While they are, for the most part, mothers on the verge of a nervous breakdown, celebrate with movies about La Mamma.
Bread and Tulips THE REBEL MOM
Let Rosalba’s story be a warning to those of you who have not been properly honoring your mothers! When she gets accidentally left behind at a rest stop on a family vacation, she takes matters into her own hands, runs away to Venice, and sets out to find the life she was meant to live.
Il Capitale Umano THE FRAGILE MOM
Carla Bernaschi’s (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) not winning any Mother-of-the-Year awards. Her husband doesn’t want her to worry her “pretty little head” about the financial pickle they find themselves and her son is spiraling out of control, but she limits her melt downs to an occasional outburst, alone in her car.
Anni Felici, Those Happy Years THE SEXUALLY FREE MOM
This one is without US distribution but absolutely worth the trouble of getting your hands on. Anni Felici is director Daniele Luchetti’s biographical story about his truly “out there” mother and father. In this clip, she is strong arming her sons into giving her the money their grandmother has just given them. Micaela Ramazzotti is unbelievably good as the mom.
Due Partite TWO GENERATIONS OF MOMS
My favorite from director Cristina Comencini, this one is also without US distribution, but if you can get find the Italian DVD, you’ll love the portrait of Due Partite, Two Teams, that is to say the mothers vs the daughters. The cast is to die for, with Paola Cortellesi, Margherita Buy, and Alba Rohrwacher, just to name a few.
Hungry Hearts THE BATSHIT CRAZY MOM
This English language film starring Alba Rohrwacher and Adam Driver premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was recently at the Tribeca Film Festival. Alba plays the scariest mom I’ve seen in a while, convinced that her baby is an Indigo Child and intent on starving it to death. US distribution is imminent, so watch for it.
Il Nome Del Figlio, An Italian Name THE MOM-TO-BE
The choice of a baby’s name, Benito, to be precise, causes controversy. Micaela Ramazzotti, Alessandro Gassman, Luigi Lo Cascio, Valeria Golino, and Rocco Papaleo star as family and friends who get together before the baby’s birth. This one will be screened at this year’s Open Roads: New Italian Cinema at New York’s Lincoln Center. An interesting side note, the birth of the baby in the film is the film of Micaela’s baby’s actual delivery.
Io Sono Li ,Shun Li and the Poet THE SELFLESS MOM
Shun Li leaves China and works as an indentured servant in Italy to try to make enough money to bring her son to join her.
I Love Italian Everything 