We Americans start a little earlier than you Italians do; here, it’s time for the Christmas movies to begin.
Now, please enjoy Al Bano singing Il Piccolo Tamburino, the Italian version of The Little Drummer Boy, and take a look at my favorite Italian Christmas movies.
La Banda Dei Babbi Natale (The Santa Clause Gang) is hilarious. Three friends that play in a Bocce league together have three different relationship problems and one of them puts them in the position to be mistaken for three other guys who are burglarizing homes wearing Santa Claus suits. The three innocent guys are played by the comedy trio of Aldo, Giovanni and Giocomo and there are no surprises here – they are the same Aldo, Giovanni and Giocomo that we’ve loved in all of their movies. They end up in a police station on Christmas eve with Angela Finocchiaro, who plays the police inspector, and have to explain to her the events that have brought them there and why they are innocent.
La Peggior Natale Della Mia Vita (The Worst Christmas Of My Life) is the sequel to La Peggior Settimana Della Mia Vita, the one in which Paolo (Fabio De Luigi) and Margherita (Cristiana Capotondi) get married, and in this one it’s Christmas time and Margherita is about to give birth.
So bad it’s good, I did laugh, I’ll have to admit it, at Paolo and Margherita’s Christmas misadventures, but I’m not proud of it. I refuse to write about the parts in which I was somewhat amused because, well, you’d think less of me.
Una Famiglia Perfetta (A Perfect Family) is cinepanettone on speed. Papa Leone (Sergio Castellitto) though abusive, is not an abusive parent, but rather an abusive employer. The wealthy and mysterious Leone hires everybody in the house to play parts, pretending to be his “perfect family” for the holidays. A beautiful wife (Claudia Gerini), a loving mother and brother (Marco Giallini), and three (three and a half, or four, depending on how you look at it) children dote on Leone and were paid to do it; missteps were not tolerated.
In Ogni Maledetto Natale (Every Damned Christmas) it’s love at first sight for Massimo and Giulia and they make a cute couple, but they have baggage. We all do. Maybe they should have waited a couple more weeks to open it and maybe they shouldn’t have done it on Christmas, is all I’m saying.
Massimo knew better; he told Giulia that Christmas was the “scariest time of year” and that he wanted to spend it alone, but Giulia’s cute pouty face eventually won him over, so off he went to the mountains to meet the Colardo family.
I Love Italian Everything 