The Embassy of Italy and the Italian commercial office in conjunction with SFX the Emporium Cinema are organizing the Bangkok Italian Film Festival 2010 from July 23 to 28.
Ten movies are being shown, with daily showtimes starting at 1 on Saturday and Sunday and 3 on weekdays.
SF cinemas has a Movie Pack, with five seats for Bt500. Individual ticket prices are Bt120.
Here's the line-up:
L'uomo in più (One Man Up) – Il Divo director Paolo Sorrentino's 2001 debut is a comedy-drama about two men who share the same name whose lives unfold in parallel. One is an aging crooner played by Toni Servillo and the other is a soccer player (Andrea Renzi) with only a few years left in his career and is looking to take a coaching job.
Dopo Mezzanotte (After Midnight) – Turin's cavernous Mole Antonelliana (Museum of Cinema( in Turin, Italy) is the setting for this 2004 romantic comedy about a night watchman coming to the aid of young woman who's on the run from the police. Winner of the the David di Donatello Award for best visual effects as well as a nominee in eight other categories, including best actor for Giorgio Pasotti and best director for Davide Ferrario.
Galantuomini (Brave Men) – Edoardo Winspeare directs his 2008 drama about a judge comes returning to his hometown to find out that his old friend is dead and the woman he loved (David di Donatello best-actress nominee Donatella Finocchiaro) is now working for the local mafia.
Italian Dream – A hotel receptionist and small-time gambler (Ivano Marescotti) dreams of one day opening his own eatery makes a Faustian pact with an eccentric millionaire (Teco Celio). Sandro Baldoni directs this 2007 comedy.
Texas – Fausto Paravidino's 2005 drama is set in a small town in northern Italy where everybody knows each other and focuses on party-happy twentysomethings hanging out and drinking. One of the guys (Ricardo Scamarcio) starts two-timing his girlfriend (Iris Fusetti) with a married schoolteacher (Valeria Golino.)
Il Posto dell 'Anima (The Soul's Haven) – Three workers of a tire factory lead the struggle against their U.S. owner who's seeking to shut them down. Riccardo Milani directs this 2003 workplace comedy.
Piano, Solo – This 2007 biographical drama is about pianist Luca Flores, portrayed by Kim Rossi Stuart, a best-actor nominee for Italy's top film honors, the David di Donatello Awards.
La Spettatrice (The Spectator) – A lonely translator (Barbora Bobulova) becomes infatuated with a man (Andrea Renzi) who lives in the apartment across the street. She follows him and discovers he has a girlfriend (Brigitte Catillon) and insinuates herself into the woman's life in order to get close to the man. Paolo Franchi directs.
La Capagira (My Head is Spinning) – Petty criminals look for a mislaid drug shipment and keep the cops at bay in their illegal video-poker parlor in this 2000 crime comedy by Alessandro Piva, winner of that year's David di Donatello Award for Best New Director.
Pesi Leggieri (Lightweight) – This 2002 boxing drama is directed by Enrico Pau.
And here's the schedule:
Thursday, July 22
- 18:00 – One Man Up (L'uomo in più), gala opening (black tie, invitation only)
- 15:00 – After Midnight (Dopo Mezzanotte)
- 17:00 – Brave Men (Galantuomini)
- 19:15 – Italian Dream
- 13:00 – Texas
- 15:20 – The Soul's Haven (Il Posto dell 'Anima)
- 17:40 – Piano, Solo
- 20:00 – The Spectator (La Spettatrice)
- 13:00 – My Head is Spinning (La Capagira)
- 14:45 – Pesi Leggeri
- 16:45 – One Man Up (L'uomo in più)
- 20:00 – After Midnight (Dopo Mezzanotte)
Monday, July 26
- 15:00 – Texas
- 17:15 – The Soul's Haven (Il Posto dell 'Anima)
- 19:30 – Piano, Solo
Tuesday, July 27
- 15:00 – The Spectator (La Spettatrice)
- 17:15 – My Head is Spinning (La Capagira)
- 19:00 – Pesi Leggeri
Wednesday, July 28
- 15:00 – Brave Men (Galantuomini)
- 17:10 – Italian Dream
- 19:15 – One Man Up (L'uomo in più)
Not well publicised enough this year. The programme appears a bit tame. I was blown away last year by "Il Divo". And I still think the Italian classics deserve at least one slot at every festival. Folk will still pay to see Antonioni, Fellini and the rest of the greats.
ReplyDeleteI saw Il Divo last year, and it was indeed powerful.
ReplyDeleteThis year's festival was to have been held in April or May, presumably at CentralWorld, but was postponed because of the red-shirt protests. Back then, a PR firm was handling promotional efforts but was dropped at some point along the way.
I only found out about the festival by accident; nearly forgot it was going on.
The festival is still well attended, and from what I can tell, the selection is a good representative of contemporary Italian cinema.
I'd love to see the classics by Fellini, etc. on the big screen, as well as genre films, like spaghetti westerns and Dario Argento horror.