The readers of Ciak have voted: The best of 2015.
The readers of Ciak magazine have declared that the favorite movie in 2015 was Birdman, a film that premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, the favorite actress is Jennifer Lawrence, and blah, blah, blah…I, of course, am only interested in the Italians, so here they are.
Third favorite director? Paolo Sorrentino (ahead of him in first place, Alejandro G. Iñárritu and George Miller.)
Favorite Italian actor: Alessandro Gassman
No surprises here. Gassman had the best year of career and if he wasn’t out of his father’s shadow before (his famous father was Vittorio Gassman), he certainly is now. This year he starred in three amazing films, Ivano De Matteo’s I Nostri Ragazzi (The Dinner), Francesca Archibugi’s Il Nome Del Figlio (The Name of the Son), and Edoardo Maria Falcone’s Se Dio Vuole. His performance in I Nostri Ragazzi was one of my favorites of the year.
The Dinner
Favorite Italian actress: Margherita Buy
I can hear your groans from here, but c’mon, she wins everything for a reason: she’s really, very, good.
She’s won more best actress awards than Sophia Loren in Italy, she’s over 50 and still cranking out beautiful performances in commercially successfully films. Raise a glass to Margherita Buy; as a woman in her age bracket, I salute her. Check out some of her films:
Favorite Italian film: Mia Madre
Nanni Moretti hit a cinematic home run with his tribute to his own mother, who died recently. Already a master auteur, this is Moretti’s best work ever, a perfectly balanced, artfully told story about grief, loss, and self-reflection. Nothing maudlin here, and though it is at times achingly sad, it’s not a cheesy tear-jerker. Moretti’s script and Margherita Buy’s performance as Margherita, the film director, put the viewer solidly into the story as observation turns to meditation. Buy’s character is the modern everyman; self-absorbed, impatient, and a bit removed from relationships in her life.
I Love Italian Everything 