Friday, January 26

Paradise found


My man is a great lover of cinema and could happily watch a movie every night of the week. He is also a night owl and loves watching films late at night. I do enjoy a film every so often, but mostly I prefer to have a conversation, or, if that doesn’t seem to be happening, read. I also like to be in bed by 11 at the latest (at least during the week, weekends I've been known to sometimes stay up past midnight!). So when he sulks because I hardly ever agree to a (late) night in front of the box, I try to convince him to watch one without me, I mean it’s not as if I would mind. But that’s the other problem; he doesn’t like watching films alone.

Ever since we returned from Venice I have been harassing him to start learning Italian with me. After a fairly relentless campaign he eventually caved in and we now spend about half an hour every evening repeating simple dialogue and memorising verbs. I love it! Whenever I develop a new interest it tends to border on the obsessive, like the case with quantum physics, which somehow managed to snare me a few years ago. But it quickly passes. This is different, I know it. So whilst he patiently puts up with my frantic enthusiasm, expecting it to fade soon enough, I am busy planning a new life in Italy (I’m sorry you had to find out this way, honey).

In the meantime, we have found the perfect solution to our movie dilemma. In my desire to immerse myself in everything Italian I have suggested that we watch only Italian films, and lots of them. He, delirious with joy at the prospect of finally having someone to watch movies with, has of course agreed. He doesn’t even mind when I pause the film every few minutes to ask “did they say non c’e male?” (or some other equally simple word or expression). I guess it really isn’t so bad, at least in comparison to the cinematic desert we previously inhabited.

7 comments:

Annika said...

So you've already discovered Cinema Paradiso, which is such a beautiful movie. Next, let me suggest Pane e tulipani. You'll love it. Oh, and Il Postino if you haven't seen it already. And .... oooh... what's the name of that movie with Joshua Jackson.. Shadows in the Sun? Nah... The Shadowdancer? Something like that. It is partially in English but who cares, it's wonderful nonetheless.

My husband expected my interest in Italy to fade too - after all, most of my passions are forgotten after a while. Now, three years later, he is still trying to decide how to cope with the fact that I'm determined to move to Italy. Poor guys.

Waspgoddess said...

Annika, Sono contento di riverderti. And thank you for the link from your blog to mine (I have of course reciprocated).

Thank you for recommending Pane e Tulipani, I adore Bruno Ganz so it could only be a perfect combination. I have already seen Il Postino, but it's on my list nevertheless, it's such a sweet film.

So do you speak fluent Italian?

Annika said...

I wish I did! No, I barely speak enough to get by. I understand more though, and have learned enough Italian to be able to read simple books. I guess my level of Italian today, after studying it on my own for 2½ years, is about the same as my level of English was in 9th grade. Or perhaps even a little better.

Elizabeth Abbot said...

Try Caro Diario by Nanni Moretti.
Do you like older films? I'll try to send you names of great old ones like "Ieri, Oggi e Domani".
hmmmm.maybe I'll even do a blog entry...

Waspgoddess said...

Annika, do you mean you've studied at home? 2 1/2 years, that's really impressive and encouraging.

Elizabeth, good to see you again. Thanks for the recommendations. I love old films and I'm sure you could do a really interesting blog entry on films from a cross-cultural angle. Look forward to it :)

Annika said...

I sure did!

On the subject of movies, if you're into comedies I strongly recommend Roberto Benigni's works. La vita è bella, La tigre e la neve, Johnny Stecchino and so on.

A few more titles:
- La stanza del figlio
- Caro diario (beautiful! love it!)
- Il nostro matrimonio è in crisi
- L'ultimo bacio
- Fiorile
- Brutti sporchi e cattivi
- Una giornata particolare
- La mia vita a stelle e strisce (hilarious, and starring Victoria Silvstedt believe it or not!)

and of course Fellini if you like him. I don't.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Lovely that you're learning Italian together! A beautiful language and not too difficult! My favourite Italian film is Buongiorno Notte. Though there are others I love, including Il Postino.