
Why has Italian cinema lost its appeal abroad? - prismatic
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/11/21/lost-in-translation/
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blue1
Not just abroad. In the latest decades the cultural production of Italy has
been, on average, rather embarrassing. As an Italian, I have developed an easy
heuristic: if it is an Italian title (either book, song or movie, whatever) it
is likely to be bad. Exceptions exist, but they are rare. It is true that what
gets exported from a country is usually the best, so one probably encounters
the local bad and the foreign best, but cultural production of Italy certainly
was better once. It is as if my country has suffered some kind of creative
collapse.

~~~
rurban
Not at all. The creative collapse which caused this decline only happened in
the 80ies as everywhere else but lasted until 2000, longer than everywhere
else. It happened to kill the major italian studios and producers de
Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti. Cinecittà went almost bankrupt 1997. Scorcese
almost killing off again Cinecittà with his fatal Gangs of New York epic
didn't help, Passion of Christ and the fire in a big Cinecittà hall 2007
neither.

But since 2000 Italian cinema is the most exciting in Europe again. They are
the only ones who successfully experiment in new visual aesthetic with the new
available camera technology. It's not only Paolo Sorrentini (Camera: Luca
Bigazzi) * L'uomo in più (2001) * Le conseguenze dell'amore (2004) * L'amico
di famiglia (2006) * Il Divo (2008) and then his famous ones, but also
Zapruder Filmmakersgroup (Nadia Ranocchi, David Zamagni, Camera: Monaldo
Moretti) with "All Inclusive 3D" (2010), Luca Guadagnino, Salvatore Maira,
Michelangelo Frammartino and in the last years many more. Compare it e.g. to
the current decline of the french movies.

The directors with which the decline of the Italian cinema started were Gianno
Amelio, Guiseppe Tornatore, Roberto Benigni, Gabriele Salvatores, Franco
Zeffirelli and Silvio Soldini. They should rest in piece.

~~~
simonebrunozzi
How do you explain Benigni's Oscar for "Life is beautiful"? Although I would
partially agree with you on your opinion about Benigni nonetheless.

~~~
once-in-a-while
Benigni is a class on its own. I think many folks don't really get what he is
really trying to say; you can view his movies with a quarter of a brain, but
you need all of your heart!

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csydas
I'd suggest access in general is a problem. In the past, this can be simply
written off as the difficulty in moving and translating the works, but this
hasn't been an issue for a very long time.

I'm a bit of a fair-weather fan of Italian cinema insomuch that I usually
enjoy what I am able to find online that gets translated. My partner is close
to fluency in Italian and loves watching Italian film to test her
understanding, but we find ourselves constantly struggling to locate any
reliable source for Italian film, legally or otherwise acquired. The most
famous pieces of Italian cinema are certainly obtainable, but exploring the
rest just seems to be a fools errand.

I'm not sure whether the Italian studios don't want to take the time, if
Publishers world-wide don't see the return on investment for spreading Italian
film, or what is stopping access, but there can be no interest if there's no
chance in getting at the film.

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personlurking
I suggest the films of Nanni Moretti and Paolo Sorrentino (mentioned in the
article).

[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0604335/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0604335/)
[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0815204/](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0815204/)

Io Sono Li is also a good, rather recent film. For documentaries, try
Videocracy and Women Bodies (aka Il Corpo Delle Donne), the latter of which is
on Youtube. BBC did a series called Italy Unpacked where two guys travel
around Italy experiencing its cuisine. Italy, Love it or Leave it is on my
list of documentaries to see but I have yet to find it available somewhere. As
for TV, try Gomorra La Serie and/or Inspector Montalbano.

~~~
guard-of-terra
The latest loud Sorrentino movie is quite awful.

I don't know, maybe hardcore movie fans find something in it, but this
demographic is thin these days. For me as a common viewer, every single
Italian movie I've seen in the last years was much better. And I'm talking
random stuff from festivals.

~~~
simo7
True that, "La Grande Bellezza" was awful, yet it managed to win an oscar for
what is worth.

~~~
siscia
I loved "La Grande Bellezza", but I am italian...

~~~
guard-of-terra
What for? I'm genuinely curious.

The only thing that kept me wondering thru the film is - where do those people
get that kind of money to make their life style possible? Now, if he made a
film explaining THAT, I would be first to watch. Otherwise, characters are
ageing impostors, but first of all boring.

~~~
jacobolus
I’m an American, and I very much enjoyed _La Grande Bellezza_. I thought it
was a fascinating glimpse of a world I otherwise know nothing about. It was
also a visually engaging movie with some gorgeous scenery and nice camera
work.

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atemerev
Try watching "The Best of Youth" (La meglio gioventù), it is fantastic.

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erikpukinskis
It's funny, I see this anti- self-consciousness stance more and more.
Objections to hipsters. Objections to political correctness.

We're at a funny time where we sort of remember the time when we weren't all
splayed out on the internet in front of each other, and we can still pine for
a return to that... We have given up some important things that are worth
trying to get back.

But unfortunately for these people, I think we're only seeing the beginning.
And we'll be horrified at what the next generation will share publicly and
demand space for in the public discourse. The Internet wants to see everything
and it is only getting stronger. It's "eye" will grow 1000x every thirty years
for the next century.

The swaggering unselfconscious architype she misses is going to increasingly
read as tone-deaf until we reach the next civil rights plateau. Minimally
we'll need free basic medical care and housing for all humans.

At that point I think he swagger could come back in full blast--nothing wrong
with a little self-aggrandizement if everyone is fed and people are enjoying
watching.

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imaginenore
La grande bellezza / The Great Beauty was quite good.

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cafard
Also: in the US foreign (or at least European) movies seem to attract an aging
demographic.

