A few months ago I got a few messages from American readers telling me that they’d be appearing in an Italian film made in the United States called Mai Stati Uniti. Mai Stati Uniti is the story of five strangers that find out that they share a father, a rich father that has left them his sizable fortune if they take his ashes to America and scatter them in a canyon in Arizona.
On on the flight from Italy to Arizona (are there direct flights from Italy to Arizona?) a storm causes a scary emergency landing in South Dakota (let the hillbilly music soundtrack begin!) and Angela (played by Ambra Angiolini who is growing on me as an actress) refuses to get back on a plane. Angela, in therapy and on anti-depressants, threatens to prematurely dump the ashes if her new sister and brothers ( Vincenzo Salemme, Ricky Memphis, Anna Foglietta, and Giovanni Vernia ) don’t agree to a road trip instead of a flight.
I like a movie that is self-aware, one that isn’t trying to be anything other than what it is, and Mai Stati Uniti is one of those movies. It’s stupid, for sure, slapstick, and unrealistic, but it’s also likeable thanks to the likeable cast.
There are funny parts, at times because of language misunderstandings; the siblings get a flat tire in Nevada ( why is it called Nevada? “Maybe because it used to snow a lot there”. Neve means snow in Italian.) And the brothel next to the gas station seems like the gas station attendant’s house. Wow, he’s got a lot of pretty daughters but why do they keep calling the boys “guys”? They’re not gay!
I also like road trip movies, and the road in Mai Stati Uniti is a pretty one. They didn’t really over-do the American clichés either. They’re at Mount Rushmore, Vegas, and Sedona, getting to know each other and, for the most part, enjoying the experience.
If you are in this movie, please let us know where to look for you! I think that someone told me that she was the blond woman in the bar, and I did see a blond woman in the bar. Brava girl!
And if you want to watch yourself without sending away to Italy for the DVD, I’ve found it free online.
Director: Carlo Vanzina
Writers: Edoardo Maria Falcone (screenplay), Carlo Vanzina (screenplay)
Stars: Vincenzo Salemme, Ambra Angiolini, Ricky Memphis, Anna Foglietta, and Giovanni Vernia
I Love Italian Everything 