3 New Italian Movies You Need to See This Year

Complexity of Happiness, Dir. Gianni Zanasi

Last weekend I attended Open Roads: New Italian Cinema Festival at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York. For at least 5 years, I have tried to catch at least few movies at this festival as the selection is incredible and sometimes it is the only possibility to see them in America. This time, I saw three movies in three days, and I was so impressed that I wanted to share my recommendations with you. Being part of the audience of that festival is like being on vacation in Italy. However, you do not only see the lovely sights, but you also witness everyday life, daily struggles and incredibly versatile culture of that country. 

Complexity of Happiness, Dir. Gianni Zanasi was my personal favorite at this year festival. Valerio Mastandrea, playing Enrico, the corporate manipulator convinces young heirs of the major industrial fortunes to give up their mundane corporate life and accept satisfying payment and unlimited freedom from any sense of duty. He facilitates the acquisition of those companies for corporate moguls, who first promise to enhance the economic situation of the businesses and then they usually end up firing most of the old employees. Enrico is more than skilled in an investigation the psychological backgrounds of his victims, their dreams, and weaknesses. He quickly becomes their friend and then betrays them, but in most cases, it seems that it is done for the mutual benefit. Everything goes smoothly until he encounters a different scenario, which changes his life forever. The movie has many nice plot layers and is as light as heavy at times. However, everything is served with a perfect balance of black comedy and drama. There are all emotional flavors here: love, death, compassion, loyalty, life and troubles recession causes in Italy. Avinoam, an Israeli girl who follows Enrico's brother to Italy and becomes profoundly disappointed with him, steals many scenes. Her character brings back memories of a great girl and man onscreen friendship from one of my favorite movies ever, The Professional.

 Me, Myself and Her, Dir. Maria Sole Tognazzi

 In Me, Myself and Her, Dir. Maria Sole Tognazzi,  two women Federica, a successful architect, and Marina, thriving businesswoman who had her adventure with acting when she was young, have been together for 7 years and like every couple at some point of the relationship, they have approached the inevitable crisis. Although they live in the apartment to die for, enjoy spectacular weekend getaways and are addicted to great food and high-quality TV. (Top of the Lake), something is missing. Federica (My very favorite Italian actress, Margherita Buy) was previously married to the man for 20 years and has an adult son. As her companion is super relaxed and open about her sexual orientation, Federica struggles to be labeled gay and puts her emotional self to the test, trying to indulge in an affair with a man from her past. As you can imagine from that moment, things go crazy in the engaging Italian style. What I liked the most about this movie was how universal was the story about relationship's pitfalls and trials by fire. Only true love wins.

Solo, Dir. Laura Morante

Finally,  Solo, directed by Laura Morante, who also plays the main character, Flavia. Morante has a status of Catherine Deneuve of the Italian cinema. This is the second movie that she directed. Italian film critics are comparing her to Woody Allen with a feminine perspective. In this movie, she inserts her appreciation of Allen's love of psychoanalysis, co-dependence, relationship, aging and the idea of being single. The film is enjoyable, but I think she still needs to learn a lot about directing, although undeniably she is a very talented actress. The movie is a collage of dreams, memories and quite unstable living situation of Flavia. There are many funny moments in it and Flavia's evolution into an independent woman with improved self-esteem is enchanting at times and for sure entertaining.

If you have a chance to see any of those movies, please do not miss it! They provide an insight into modern Italian reality and seductive love of beauty in life intertwined with problems we all have regardless of our geographical location. Once again, I am super grateful to Lincoln Center for making this event happen!