Sundance: The pitch black repercussions when you 'Speak No Evil'

by Jason Adams

I don't know why people never heed the wise words of the credits to The Real World opening credits when they find themselves inside a horror movie of manners, but if we all could just stop being so damned polite and start getting real there'd be way fewer corpses dumped into the ditches of the world, and doesn't that sound a lot nicer for everybody? But no, nobody listens to the reality-programming Cassandras called Bunim and Murray, and so we end up watching people like the Danish family at the heart of Christian Tafdrup's pitch-black Sundance horror Speak No Evil, who don't speak up for themselves and pay the darkest of prices for it. Get real, world! It's for your own good...

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Streaming: "Four To Dinner" and the problem with Italian Netflix movies

by Elisa Giudici

In the new Netflix movie Four to Dinner, beautiful thirtysomething singles are invited to a married couple's dinner on a picturesque Roman terrace. The terrace is not quite as breathtaking as the one with the hammock facing Colosseo in The Great Beauty, but it's still the kind of terrace mere mortals can only dream off, in Italy or elsewhere.

The married couple hosting the dinner is playing matchmaker, but they have different opinions on which singles should be paired. Would it be better to match their friends with similar temperaments or to test the chemistry between two opposites? The answer is both, at the same time...

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The Italian Oscar race: 18 contenders for the submission, 1 probable winner

by Elisa Giudici

THE HAND OF GOD

The Italian longlist for the 2021 Oscar submission is very long and much better than usual, quality-wise. Although if the Italian Cinema Academy appointed by ANICA really wants to give Italy a chance to make the finals,the choice is obvious: Paolo Sorrentino's The Hand of God.

Unfortunately, in the last decade, the Italian film commission's rulings on this matter have not proved to be that smart. I mean, how can you send Marco Bellocchio's The Traitor (as beautiful and important as it was domestically) when The New York Times states that Pietro Marcello's Martin Eden is the best movie of 2020? Our only solace was that that was the year of Parasite, so there was no room for a real contender to Bong Joon-ho's victory in Best Internatural Feature Film...

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Locarno Diary #5: Italian Horror Stories

by Elisa Giudici

I was really curious to see Italian movies selected this year in Locarno, after the change of the artistic director. Italy and this part of Switzerland have strong ties: everyone here speaks Italian. You can drive from Milan to Locarno in a couple of hours, so it is not that surprising that the Swiss Festival has strong connections with Italian movie industry. So why are the Italian movies shown in Locarno almost always a disappointment? (The two worst Italian films I saw in the past decade were both showcased here. ) I have my own little conspiracy theories on this topic but that's for another time.

This year there are three prominent Italian movies in Locarno: one in competition, one in Piazza Grande and one in the Cineasti del presente section (which is reserved for young, promising directors). After seeing Il legionario, I was quite optimistic about the fact the something has changed and the "Italian curse" in Locarno has lifted. Perhaps I was too optimistic...

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Venice 2021: The Jury

by Nathaniel R

With Cannes wrapped we move on to the fall festival buzz. Next up is Venice (September 1st-11th) and we are thrilled to report that Elisa Giudici, our Italian correspondent who did such a fine job covering Cannes, will repeat that trick for Venice. The 78th Venice festival has just announced the complete jury for its competition films. Like Cannes, they've chosen a majority female jury this time around. Unlike Cannes they went big on very recent Oscar nominees and winners...

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