nwFilmCenter

Italy

Tue, Feb 13, 2007 at 8:30 PM Sat, Feb 17, 2007 at 2:15 PM Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 8:15 PM Mon, Feb 19, 2007 at 5:15 PM	The Caiman DIRECTOR: NANNI MORETTI ITALY Moretti's new film is a striking combination of biting political satire, a comic look at aspects of the Italian film industry, and a moving drama of the breakdown of a marriage. Shot in what turned out to be the twilight of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's political reign, Moretti takes every opportunity to proffer scathing insights into the tycoon's right wing regime and to dramatize famous real incidents in the premier's controversial career. This provides the provocative backdrop to the main story of a film director renowned for his low–budget exploitation flicks, whose career and personal life are simultaneously disintegrating. Silvio Orlando perfectly embodies the woes of a middle aged man trying desperately to keep a ridiculous film project about Christopher Columbus on the go, while trying, and often failing, to come to terms with separation from his wife. ( 112 min ) Filmography: I Am Self Sufficient (76), Red Wood Pigeon (89), Second Time (95). ^ Top
Fri, Feb 16, 2007 at 8:45 PM Sat, Feb 17, 2007 at 5 PM	The Wind Blows Round DIRECTOR: GIORGIO DIRITTI ITALY Chersogno, a small mountain village in the Italian Alps, is slowly dying out. Its survival relies on its aging population and the brief summer tourist season. A French shepherd arrives in this tiny, conservative community, bringing along his young family, his goats and his entrepreneurial skills as a cheese–maker. In the beginning, he is fairly welcome, generating the hope that his arrival could reinvigorate village life. But slowly, the conditions become harsher, misunderstandings multiply and envy starts to spread. In the end, the villagers begin to resent the intrusion of his family and his business in their quiet lives, and the village splits into two factions, supporters and detractors of the French shepherd. What happens, by turns funny, touching and infuriating is told with a subtle and knowing hand. Stunning landscapes form a dramatic background to an extremely topical story of intolerance and its evil fruit. ( 110 min ) First Feature Film. ^ Top
Sat, Feb 17, 2007 at 7:45 PM Sun, Feb 18, 2007 at 4:45 PM Mon, Feb 19, 2007 at 8:15 PM	The Family Friend DIRECTOR: PAOLO SORRENTINO ITALY In a small town, an ageing loan shark, who lives with his mother, is undone by greed and his fatal attraction to a beautiful young woman. The Family Friend uses Sorrentino's striking visual flair to tell the tragicomic story of 70–year–old Geremia (Giacomo Rizzo), who believes his services entitle him to be treated as family. Geremia has made himself a rich man by allowing greed to trump all emotions—until he finds that Rosalba will submit to his lecherous advances if he lowers the interest on her father's loan. From their bed of misery springs a trace of warmth in Geremia's icy–cold heart, and he unwittingly opens himself up to the kind of exploitation he has thrust upon others his entire life. "The Family Friend expands the maverick helmer's singular vision, though this time he's crafted a more complex world to illustrate his philosophy: 'everyone steals, and everyone is unhappy.'"—Variety. ( 110 min ) Filmography: One Man Up (01), The Consequences of Love (04). ^ Top