A committee of one (me) has taken an exhaustive look (at least a half hour or so) at the past year in Italian movies for the first annual ILAM (I Love Italian Movies) Awards. This year’s lucky winners:
Best Supporting Actress: In her role in Daniele Ciprì’s È Stato il Figlio, Giselda Volodi is stunning as the devastated mother who, in the end, does what she has to do to save her family.
Best Supporting Actor: This award should be shared by many, the cast of real life prisoners from Rome’s Rebibbia Prison in The Taviani Brothers’ Cesare Deve Morire. Cosimo Rega,Salvatore Striano and Giovanni Arcuri and a dozen others prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.”
Best Director – Brothers Vittorio (83) and Paolo (81) Taviani for Cesare Deve Morire.
Best New Director – Luigi Lo Cascio is not new to Italian cinema; he’s made a couple dozen movies since 2000, but his directorial debut, La Città Ideale is a roller coaster ride of anxiety, suspense, and laughter with Luigi in the lead role.
Best Comedy – Ferzan Ozpetek’s Magnifica Presenza is lots of fun and my favorite of all of Ozpetek’s movies.
Best Actor – This is the year of great performances from incarcerated actors: Aniello Arena was given work release from his prison term to play the lead role in Matteo Garrone’s Reality.
Best Actress I wasn’t wild about Marco Bellocchio’s Bella Addormentata, but I can’t deny Isabelle Huppert’s delicate and yet powerful portrayal of an actress who is fading away from her work and her family after a tragedy.
Best FIlm – With screenings at over 100 film festival and 25 awards, there’s no doubt that Cesare Deve Morire is the year’s best Italian film.
I Love Italian Everything 