Rich offering from cradle of Italian arts
John Badalu, Contributor, Jakarta
This year's Italian Film Festival in Jakarta is focused on Naples. Why Naples? Because it is the root of art in Italy, where most of Italy's performing arts began centuries ago and reached their peak in the Middle Ages.
And in the mid-1990s, some new filmmakers from Naples made their appearance. Mario Martone, Antonietta De Lillo, Pappi Corsicato, Stefano Incerti and Antonio Capuano, who are known as the New Wave Generation of Contemporary Italian Filmmakers, took a look at Naples from a different perspective.
Each of these filmmakers has won numerous awards in Italy and abroad, and they have been honored for their efforts to direct, write and produce their own films.
All seven of the films to be screened at the festival are gems. You can get free tickets for the festival beginning on Oct. 11 at Pusat Perfilman H. Usmar Ismail on Jl. Rasuna Said, Kav. 22, in South Jakarta. All of the films start at 7 p.m.
Oct. 16 and Oct. 25
I Vesuviani (1997) Directors: Antonio Capuano, Pappi Corsicato, Antonietta De Lillo, Stefano Incerti and Mario Martone Actors: A. Bonaiuto, I. Forte, E. Moscato, A. Pennarella, T. Servillo, T. Taiuti Duration: 125 minutes
Five different stories from five different directors, all set in Naples. The film features a cast of quirky characters, from the members of an all-women motorcycle gang who race along the streets of Naples, a transvestite who roams the aisles of an adult movie theater he has made his home, an octopus which at night turns into a sensual woman, a devil in a bottle, to the desolate landscape of the inaccessible, impervious ridge of Vesuvius.
Oct. 17
Libera (1993) Director: Pappi Corsicato Actors: I. Forte, N. Bruschetta. E. Moscato, F. Forte, F. Serra, C. Donadio. Duration: 85 minutes
The story of three women living in Naples. Aurora, who has become rich through marriage, returns to an area of the city where she once lived. Here she meets the parish priest, her relatives and Pistoletta, her first love. Carmela, a mother, is waiting at home for her son Sebastiano to return from a juvenile detention home. And Libera suspects that her husband is cheating on her, so she places a hidden camera in the house. The camera reveals that she is right, so she works out a plan and wins in terms of money, but loses in terms of love.
Oct. 18
Il Verificatore (1995) Director: Stefano Incerti Actors: A. Iuorio, R. de Francesco, E. Treoccani, R. Carpentieri, T. Saponangelo Duration: 80 minutes
Crescenzio works as an inspector for the gas company: that is he reads meters. Giuliana works as a secretary for an electrical repair company (owned by an elderly bully) where Crescenzio's brother, Beniamino, an outgoing optimist, works. The sleazy old boss's last effort to seduce Giuliana makes Crescenzio decide to stop the old man, who he sees as the living symbol of all the evil he has ever known.
Oct. 21
Polvere di Napoli (1998) Director: Antonio Capuano Actors: S. Orlando, T. Taiuti, L. Pagnani, T. Saponangelo, R. Musella, A. Iuorio Duration: 100 minutes
The Naples here is the one that belongs to the third or fourth world. It is inhabited by many different characters: a Marquis and the porter of his building playing cards with an ugly and cold meat supplier; a young couple who are always arguing; the famous Rosita, Ciriaco and Fred among the ruins of Pompei playing leading roles in a Western with the custodian Pasquale; the incompetent Mimmo Pezzella who dreams of being Richard Gere; and finally, Ciarli and Gerri, who play the saxophone and are fans of Charlie Parker but are forced to play at wedding receptions. The grotesque is mixed with the comic, melancholy with tenderness, poetry with anger.
Oct. 22
Pianese Nunzio, 14 anni a maggio (1996) Director: Antonio Capuano Actors: Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Emanuele Gargiulo Duration: 114 minutes
The story of a courageous priest who urges his flock to break with dishonesty and the cohabitation with -- or just the meek acceptance of -- criminality. He is someone the camorra "must" silence, but any strong-arm tactics would create a hero. It is therefore necessary that his credibility be destroyed and his image mudded. This is why his secret relationship with the boy Nunzio -- which is certainly questionable but cannot be simply labeled as corruption of a minor -- is used by the camorra to create a scandal in an attempt to involve the police and the district attorney in the priest's elimination. In the tragic story, the relationship between the priest and Nunzio is certainly intense, but never shameful. Attraction and love prevail.
Oct. 23
L'amore molesto (1995) Director: Mario Martone Actors: A. Bonaiuto, A.Luce, C. Pecoraio, L. Maglietta, A. Calato, G. Biglietti Duration: 104 minutes
Delia returns to Naples, her native city, to look into her mother Amalia's mysterious death. Delia confronts the domineering men who surround her: Amalia's presumed lover, Caserta, his son Antonio, her uncle Filippo and her father, now living alone in an old house. In the end, Delia returns to Bologna, having delved deep into her own soul to discover long- removed truths, which she can no longer ignore.
Oct. 24
Teatro di Guerra (1998) Director: Mario Martone Actors: A. Renzi, A. Bonaiuto, I. Forte, R. De Francesco, M. Baliani, T. Servillo Duration: 113 minutes
It is 1994 and there is a war underway in the former Yugoslavia. In Naples, Leo, an actor and director, begins rehearsals for a play which he intends to take to Sarajevo. Leo's company works in a rundown theater located in an alleyway. The group's rehearsals are intercut with the daily lives of the company and the private affairs of the actors. One day Leo receives a telegram, and from that moment on his behavior changes as he becomes more closed and evasive.