What to show in an American foreign language class?

Movies are awesome, and some of the best were not made in the USA. Foreign films can intrigue and captivate, but selecting one to watch can be an adventure. Standards for language and nudity vary greatly from country to country. Selecting a foreign film to show to a classroom full of American teenagers? Tricky--most haven't been rated by the MPAA. All of this, and then there are considerations that matter even more: is it a good movie? Is the language spoken clearly and without too much dialect? What does it teach us about culture, history, traditions, and values?

My purpose in writing this blog is to review movies, mostly Italian, but I'm sure I'll include films from other countries as I go along. I will provide some information to guide viewers who want fair warning of what may pop up on the screen. I will also give a general synopsis and my opinion of the end result.

Regardless of what brings you to this site, benvenuti. I hope you find the contents useful and enjoyable.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Agata and the Storm / Agata e la tempesta

2004.  Romantic Comedy.  IMDB rating: 6.7/10 stars.  My rating:  2/5 stars.

Director: Silvio Soldini

Starring: Licia Maglietta (who also starred in Soldini's earlier Bread and Tulips), Giuseppe Battiston (also from Bread and Tulips), Emilio Solfrizzi with Marina Massironi (again, Bread and Tulips) and Claudio Santamaria

At this writing, available on DVD (FilmMovement), streaming on Netflix, and included streaming with Amazon Prime.

Why I could never show this to a high school class:  several sex scenes with female waist-up nudity.

Who will like this movie?  Fans of Diane Lane romantic comedies.

Agata owns a bookstore in Genova and is taken by surprise when a younger man starts giving her his attentions.  She's already feeling a bit off because electrical devices tend to blow out in her vicinity.  Her brother Gustavo is an architect feeling hum-drum about his life.  Enter Romeo and a flood of identity issues and everyone's life is due for some change.

of cultural interest in this movie:
  • use of the titles "Architetto" and "Geometra," along with extensive use of the formal voice.
  • Italian language is very standard and easy to understand.
  • Glimpses around Genova, a truly beautiful city.
  • from time to time, Agata lapses into processing the world around her as an old black-and-white film.  Voices in these episodes are dubbed-over and sound like they are projected in an old theater in the style of Cinema Paradiso.  
Additionally, the opening song, El Pajaro, by Lhasa is beautiful and worth looking into of its own right.

In general, I am not a fan of romantic comedies, and this one was no exception.  Too many quirky traits and incidents culminated to launch the unbelievability factor far beyond reasonable fantasy.

No comments:

Post a Comment