From "Buongiorno, notte" to "Primadonna" and "Leonardo addio". All reviewed by James Norton
The recent London Film Festival showcased some of the Italian films to look forward to in the future, all of which look back to the past, a trio of works which cast new eyes on the troubled history of a country facing perhaps a perilous time to come. Two of these were by veteran […]
Frames of Representation, a festival of artistically and politically adventurous films mixing documentary and drama to tell stories from the world over, returns to the ICA this week from November 25 – December 4. Curated by the ICA’s Italian Head of Cinema, Nico Marzano, 20 new films from 16 different countries will be shown, together […]
While "La Mano di Dio" remains unconvincing, Frammartino's "Il Buco" is a timeless masterpiece
While a film shot in Matera dominated the box office at every other cinema in town, at the 2021 London Film Festival, which ended recently, a handful of Italian films provided more authentic visions of life in the peninsula. The biggest of these was the only disappointment, Paolo Sorrentino’s È stata la mano di […]
Curzon Home Video presents "Il mio corpo" and "The Macaluso Sisters"
Two excellent new films have just been released on Curzon Home Video bringing powerful doses of Sicilian sunshine, but with some disturbing shadows. Il mio corpo (pictured above), a powerful and beautiful documentary, follows the lives of two young men living different but equally desperate lives in the margins of society in Sicily. Oscar […]
A tragicomic drama from twin brothers D'Innocenzo and a new documentary from celebrated maestro Gianfranco Rosi among the best movies this year
This year’s London Film Festival which ran from 7-18 October was naturally a slimmed down version of the usually vast annual event, with 13 fascinating new films previewed at the BFI Southbank’s screens and cinemas across the country, from Steve McQueen’s Mangrove, telling the all-too true story of racist persecution of the Notting Hill […]
One of the highlights was "Napoli 44", a show by the Italian Compagnia Francesca Caprioli
The Voila! Europe festival recently returned to London for its seventh season and one of the highlights was a show by the Italian Compagnia Francesca Caprioli, based in Rome (pictured above). Napoli 44 is a brilliant adaptation of Norman Lewis’ classic tragi-comic account of his experience as a British intelligence officer in the ruined […]
James Norton attended the last edition of LFF interviewing with Pietro Marcello director of "Martin Eden"
The BFI London Film Festival last month included a showcase of the best recent Italian cinema. The most interesting new feature was directed by Pietro Marcello, whose mysterious essay films mixing archive footage and documentary of colorful social outcasts have a cult following, now making a more mainstream fiction debut with Martin Eden, which […]
The three Italo-American legends presented their new Netflix-produced movie at the London Film Festival. A classic mobster masterpiece that convincingly solves the Hoffa mystery
A line up of Italian-American megastars visited London on Sunday for the closing night gala of this year’s BFI London Film Festival, Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman. The film reunites Scorsese with Robert De Niro for the first time since Casino, 25 years ago, and is the best work by either of them since then, […]