OK, wow. It's been over a month since my last post. At this rate, I'm not really sure how I'm going to watch all of these movies before I die. Unless I plan on living to be 150. Of course, by then, they'll probably be able to inject the movie directly into my brain. Alright, on to lucky number 13...
Remember those analogies on your verbal SATs? A is to B as C is to D? Well, here's one for you that may put this movie and its director into a little perspective. Nanni Moretti is to Italy as Woody Allen is to America. His movies are witty, the locations are as important to the plot as the characters, and not everyone "gets him." And just as Woody Allen's films are not widely accepted in Europe, Moretti has yet to find his audience in America. Also, Moretti might not like this analogy, because as far as I know, he never married his adopted daughter.
Caro Diario is a semi-autobiographical film told in three episodes (or "sections") of an open diary. The first section is called "On My Vespa" and it's all about Moretti riding around Italy on a Vespa, all the while giving you a running commentary on things such as the charming old districts, ugly housing projects, his love for Jennifer Beals (complete with a goofy fan encounter) and his disgust of the cult film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer... which, btw, is also on my list of movies to watch before I die. If I had known, I would have made this a double-feature. "On My Vespa" is brought to a close when Moretti makes a pilgrimage for the first time to the beachside town where Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini was murdered.
In "Islands," Moretti and his professor friend, Gerardo, tour the volcanic islands north of Sicily, looking rather unsuccessfully for a quiet place to work. They're thrown into bizarre situations that, for some reason or another, require them to move to another island, whether it's noisy traffic, friends who are too obsessed with their children or just obnoxious islanders. I did enjoy seeing Gerardo's downward spiral from being a snob who didn't even own a television set to being so obsessed with American television that he forces Moretti to ask a group of American tourists what's happening on The Bold and the Beautiful, since they see the episodes ahead of Italy.
The final section of the movie, "Doctors," deals with Moretti's chronic itching and his search for an effective doctor. Even though the subject matter is a little more serious in this section, he remains consistent with the sweet tone of the entire film. It would have been easy for him to turn this into a heavy-handed docudrama about his ailment that no one could seem to diagnose. Instead, he simply shows himself being subjected to one ineffective treatment after another -- ointments, massage, diet, herbs, electro-accupuncture -- before a spot on his lung is finally diagnosed as Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The movie starts off a little slow, but once I got used to Moretti's quirkiness, I kind of enjoyed his company. But, like any houseguest, after a couple of hours, you're ready for him to go home so you can watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey finale in peace.
Why you should watch Caro Diario: if you're planning a trip to Rome and/or you've ever had to deal with ineffective doctors.
Why
you should skip it: if you don't like Woody Allen, you probably are not going
to like Nanni Moretti either.
Credits:
Italy
/ France (Banfilm, La Sept. Canal+, Rai Uno,
Sacher) 100m Technicolor
Language:
Italian / English / MandarinDirector: Nanni Moretti
Producer: Nella Banfi, Angelo Barbagallo, Nanni Moretti
Screenplay: Nanni Moretti
Photography: Giuseppe Lanci
Music: Nicola Piovani, Keith Jarrett, Angelique Kidjo
Cast: Nanni Moretti, Giovana Bozzolo, Sebastiano Nardone, Antonio Petrocelli, Giulio Base, Italo Spinelli, Carlo Mazzacurati, Jennifer Beals, Alexandre Rockwell, Renato Carpentieri, Raffaella Lebboroni, Marco Paolini, Claudia Della Seta, Lorenzo Alessandri, Antonio Neiwiller
Cannes Film Festival: Nanni Moretti (director, Golden Palm nomination)
