A quiet week in the Italian cinemas (as with elsewhere, it seems). The biggest new release is Tutta la vita davanti, a comedy directed by Paolo Virzi (who’s won several awards for his previous films). To quote from the reviewer on IMDB:
“The vicissitudes of a newly graduated girl in the universe of the precarious work. Marta is a well- educated girl; she is curious and silent one, which finds work in the call center of a company that sells a futuristic appliance. So she finds out a new fantastic world formed by young telephone operator and fanatic seller, corporate jingle, motivational dance, prize giving, ovation and penance. A bittersweet picture of modern society narrated through the eyes of a funny young philosopher”.
Although Virzi’s films do well in Italy, hardly any of them manage to make it beyond the festival circuit internationally, and I can’t really see this one being any different.
Another new comedy: Ci sta un Francese, un Inglese e un Napoletano, directed by Eduardo Tartaglia. This would appear to be set in some kind of international peacekeeping mission, where a cowardly Neopolitan called Salvatore (played by Tartaglia) is entrusted with a vital mission. Unfortunately, this involves marrying a local woman, which doesn’t go down all that well with his own fiancee. I’m not really sure who the Englishman in this is, but I’d be very surprised if it was ever seen on English shores.
The third new film is undoubtedly the most interesting, so it’s a shame that hardly anyone seems to be going to watch it! Nessuna Qualita Agli Eroi is a psychological thriller about two men who, Strangers on a Train style, swap murders. This sounds like an angsty, morbid drama, which could be very interesting… or deathly dull. Anyway, it gets a broadly positive review in Variety, although the review from the IMDB sounds less keen. Anyway, at least it’s a change from all the comedies that seem to be churned out in Italy… This played in Venice and has an English version (as ‘Fallen Heroes‘), as well as a recognisable cast (Maria De Medeiros from Pulp Fiction, Irene Jacob from Three Colours Red, Alexandra Stewart) so it might make it out somewhere in the English market…