Ciao! Italia: Films Celebrating the Spirit of Italy

NEW CLASS TIME ADDED! January 10 thru February 7, Thursdays – 3:00 pm.

Over the years, we have periodically looked at some films from Italy, mostly covering the earlier, more formative years in the history of that nation’s cinema.  This time around we’ll focus more on recent contributions, as Italy begins to break away from its roots in dark Neo Realism.  With a nod to one early comic classic, “Mafioso” introduces us to the world of Mafia, acknowledging for the first time in Italian film its true existence. This was a bold move indeed, about a previously “underground” subject. It would be many years later before that subject would be treated so openly in culture and the arts, after the advent of Tony Soprano made Mafia a household word! We’ll then jump forward in time,  for a broader, more modern selection of films about life in Italy, as only the Italians can portray it.