They say the postman always rings twice, and that’s certainly true as the St. Ali Italian Film Festival scoots into town once more, ringing out la bella vita loud and proud across mutiple Sydney cinemas from September 19 to October 18. The month-long feast of Italian cinema wraps things up in mid-October with a retrospective screening of luminous dramedy The Postman (Il Postino), the final film of much-loved star Massimo Troisi, who tragically died just after wrapping the shoot and was posthumously nominated for an Oscar.
He co-wrote this heart-soaring tale with director Michael Radford and plays Mario, a fisherman who longs for more from his sleepy island life. Becoming the temporary postie of exiled Chilean poet and politician Pablo Neruda (French star Philippe Noiret), the latter encourages him to embrace the arts, find happiness where he is and swing for the stars in wooing beautiful Beatrice (the mesmerising Maria Grazia Cucinotta). If you, too, crush on Troisi, you can go all out with the retro stream paying tribute to his life’s work.
If, like roughly 90 per cent of the world, you cannot get enough of crime fiction, this year’s festival opens with Last Night of Amore, the latest thrill ride from The Informer writer/director Andrea Di Stefano (also an actor who intriguingly pops up as the priest in Life of Pi). It casts The Traitor lead Pierfrancesco Favino as a good cop on the eve of a quiet retirement who finds himself plunged into the darkest heart of Mian when his best friend and trusted colleague is discovered shot dead by the roadside, leading to a head-spinning night that unravels everything he thought he knew.
There’s so much cinematic gold to see spun between these show start and stoppers, including La Chimera, the latest from Cannes Film Festival darling Alice Rorchwacher (Happy as Lazzaro). Her Palme d’Or nominated, 1980s-set romp taps The Crown star Josh O’Connor as a dubious archaeologist fresh out of prison who winds up falling in with a rowdy band of brigands robbing tombs under the Tuscan sun, with living legend Isabella Rossellini also showing up.
History buffs will be intrigued by writer/director Michele Placido’s Caravaggio’s Shadow, a sweeping biopic of the chiaroscuro-adoring Renaissance artist who was a thorn in the side of the Vatican because of his insistence on depicting sex workers and thieves in his awe-inspiring paintings. Piercing-eyed actor Riccardo Scamarcio leaves his mark in the lead role, with the incomparable Isabelle Huppert as his powerful patron and Little Women actor Louis Garrel as the investigator out for his scalp. And while we’re on the topic of Vatican misbehaviour, Kidnapped, the latest film from The Traitor director Marco Bellocchio, is a gripping expose of a shocking overreach that rocked 19th-century Italy.
Fashion lovers will relish the eye-popping doco The Genius of Gianni Versace Alive, marking the directorial debut of former Versace model Salvatore Zannino and featuring glorious archival footage of the game-changing designer, as well as contributions from luminaries including Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Tina Turner. And for a breathtaking vision of the non-runaway walking kind, lose yourself in the lush spectacle of the Italian Alps with one of the low-key loveliest films you see this year, The Eight Mountains. Adapted from Paolo Cognetti’s tender story of enduring male friendship, adapted by writer/directors Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch and featuring aching performances by Alessandro Borghi and Luca Marinelli, we absolutely adore the wandering heart of this one.
Tickets will fly as fast as spaghetti sauce to a freshly washed white top, so twirl them round your fork right now and get stuck in! You can get your tickets in cinemas at box offices until sold out or online at italianfilmfestival.com.au.