Director Francesco Munzi is in town talking about his latest film, Anime Nere (Black Souls), coming soon to America theaters (and we’ll keep you posted as to where and when). I was lucky enough to spend some time with him today, and the interview will be published soon, but as a preview,he’s a great guy, very good-looking, he’s definitely thumbs up on American cinema, and thumbs down on American coffee.
I didn’t think to ask him, but what must he have been thinking of the St. Patrick’s Day revelers, already roaming the streets, obviously feeling no pain at 11:00 a.m.
While you are waiting for the Anime Nere, make sure that you’ve seen his last film, Il Resto Della Notte.
In a story about immigration, money, and Italy’s increasingly multi-cultural face, Munzi weaves together the lives of a wealthy Italian family, a Romanian ex-con and his girlfriend, and a drug addict that’s lost custody of his son.
Sandra Ceccarelli plays Silvana Bourin, an unhappy, nervous, but affluent housewife who lives in fear of the eastern Europeans that are flooding in to her northern Italian city. When her pearl earrings are nowhere to be found it’s a great excuse to fire Maria (Laura Vasiliu), the Romanian maid, but her husband and daughter are sure that Silvana is just being her usual unpleasant self.
Turns out that even though it’s true she’s unpleasant, she’s also right; Maria did take the earrings and with them she returned to her ex-boyfriend, Ionut, who is fresh out of prison and intrigued with the possibility of getting more from Maria’s former employers.
In a sea of recent filmmakers making movies about the problems of immigration, legal and otherwise, in Italy today, Munzi stands out for a few reasons.
As he’s done, even better in the more recent Anime Nere, Munzi tells a great story, with complex, empathy-worthy, and well-drawn characters. In some ways, a “message” is secondary, because the narrative is so compelling, but if there is a message to be found, his is not obvious or clichéd.
And watch for the dates, times, and cities for his latest, Anime Nere.
I Love Italian Everything 