It was the night before
Christmas and not a creature was stirring … except the happy elves at Bayview
Entertainment who have loaded up Santa’s sleigh with a trio of new films from
the world of contemporary Italian Cinema that will be making their domestic DVD
debuts — for cinepiles to enjoy — on
Dec. 24.
Sure, there are several
great sources for Italian-language films from years past (think: Fellini,
Rossellini, Bava, Argento), but in sort of a head-scratching way, contemporary
films are hard to come by.
Icarus Films, as an
example, has a domestic distribution with France’s premiere film production and
distribution company, Distrib Films, so there’s a steady flow of
French-language films of recent vintage.
Well Go U.S.A. seems to have a pipeline into China and South Korea, so
no problem with Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean films … but Italian, that’s a
different story.
Come Dec. 24, a window
opens up for the domestic DVD release of a trio recent Italian film productions. Perhaps Bayview Entertainment is on to something
here!
Counted among the
selections is director Fabrizio La Monica’s Bergmanesque release of The Lord
Doesn’t Hate You. Here, we find a father (played by Roberto
Romano), who is banished from the local village because his daughter (Emilia
Passalacqua) has contracted a mysterious disease that will soon become
infectious and spread to all.
They begin a quest to find a mysterious “hermit,”
who leaves deep in a seemingly endless forest, for a cure. But there is more at play than the search
for a “cure.”
The Lord Doesn’t Hate You is
presented in Italian, with English subtitles, plus there are two viewing
options. In color, or as filmmaker Fabrizio
La Monica prefers, in glorious black and white.
Next up is The
Book of Life from writer/director Marco Lui, who is perhaps better
known in Italy as a mime and stand-up comedian … he uses those talents
marvelously well as the star of his own film.
In heaven, or something
akin to a pre-mortal existence, Lui falls in love with a beautiful young woman
named Chiara (Sarah Colombini), who plays the piano, but never smiles. He brings her a daisy each day and does his
best to get her to smile … and then the day arrives where he will assume a
mortal form (with a bit of sad note thrown in that his time on earth will be
short).
Now on earth, Lui is a
teacher and guess what, Chiara is a music teacher at the same school. Same process — hysterically so, as Lui puts
his mime and physical comic talents to good use (even if you don’t speak
Italian, the sight-gags are terrific) — as he tries again and again to get
Chiara to crack a smile.
Alas he goes too far with
his goofy antics. Her niece, played by
Italian child singing sensation Alice Risolino, is absolutely infectious in her
performance as his muse, who does her best to reel him in with her savvy
advice.
The Book of Life is filled with allegorical references and Marco
Lui does an excellent job in both the pacing of the film and his use of comedy
to impart life lessons. Although it seems
straight forward, somethings are not what they seem, which give the film a nice
twist. Presented in Italian with
English subtitles.
Marco Lui returns with
his gamer-like tale, Cripta, where he plays the duel role
of an elderly professor and a video game personality who gives hints and
direction (in his best mime and comedian manner) to the six online players —
all archeology students — who are tasked with solving a puzzle.
During their “gaming”
experience (think along the lines of Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”), their
computer system is infected with a nasty virus that will set up a very
dangerous twist in their collective research that could prove life-threatening,
not only for them, but for the entire planet.
Cripta is also presented in Italian with English
subtitles.
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