About The Italians At Cannes

They’re all winners.

I guess a lot of you picture me sitting here spitting nails this morning, (vuol dire, molto arrabbiata.) but I am surprisingly happy. The Italians went home empty-handed from the Cannes Film Festival; but really, so what?

Certainly I like it when Italian filmmakers win stuff, winning is fun, but in the end, the prizes don’t mean much. Who remembers who won the Palme D’or, the Oscar, or even the Leone D’oro five years ago? I guess some people keep track of that stuff, but most of us don’t know or care.

The important thing about Cannes this year for the Italians is that there were three strong films in competition and they all got enthusiastic applause and reviews. Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth, Matteo Garrone’s Tale of Tales, and Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre, all winners.

And what really counts is the box office, and the Italian box office has its own reward for Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth (La Giovinezza). Opening weekend takings surpassed that of The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) and was at the top this weekend with 2,426,335 euro.

Cannes is more of a victory for Italy, even not winning anything, than had it won one thing, and had that one thing been the only really good thing. Italy’s got a deep bench (vuol dire, ci sono tanti tanti con talento) and that’s what’s important.

So don’t be a buzzkill (vuol dire, rovinare la felicità degli altri), It’s a good time for Italian cinema and I’m enjoying it.

The cast of Mia Madre at Cannes, thanks to our friend Gilles Vauclair, who is there.