Life on Venus – We are the Family

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scena-di-mine-vaganti

Forget about those masterpieces of Italian Neo-realism. Forget about the great comedies. Nowadays Italian cinema is a matter of family.
Sometimes cinema is a kind of mirror of our society, sometimes it could educate the society itself. So in contemporary Italian movies and screenplays directors seem to be worried about the Italian family and its crisis.
The most appreciated directors have made movies in which “Family” is always the main topic. The relationship between mother and son (La prima cosa bella – Paolo Virzì), parents vs children (Genitori e figli agitare bene prima dell’uso – Gianni veronesi) the son’s coming out and the family’s reaction (Mine vaganti – Ferzan Ozpetek) and the various aspects of couples in crisis (a bunch of directors including Gabriele Muccino).
It could sound as if the end of the traditional family (mother, father, children)might be the greatest fear in Italy. I can appreciate that in our political and economic situation the idea of ‘family nest’ could be something to console our troubles but first we should reflect on the causes of this condition. A society that is looking for a mother’s womb instead of trying to cope with its phantoms is a sick society.
I ‘ve watched other interesting movies in recent times such as the Japanese film, “Departures” by Yojiro Takita, in which the sense of death and its idea is shown with a high lyrical attitude coming from the director’s sensibility as well as the Japanese culture. “Soul Kitchen” by Fatih Akin, in which the main character is trying to find her place in the world with the help of some friends and learning the art of cooking.
So I ask myself, is the crash of the family a real problem or is it just a step towards civilization? I would answer: ‘The family is dead, long live the individual’!

Life on Venus

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First of all I’d like to introduce myself to you all. My name is Katia, I am an artist and a writer and – last but not least – I am italian.
The aim of my presence here is to let you know something more about Italy and what is actually happening here.
Reading the foreign press I made myself sure that you know about italian politics and economy much more than Italians do.
Something strange is going on in our country: media, common sense and art are changing, often worsening. Sometimes I feel like a fish living in a pink glass bowl from where I can see “la vie en rose”. This positive attitude toward everything around is artificial. In Italy the same phenomenon occurred during the ’30ies.
At those times cinema, theatre and arts in general were inspired only by positive thinking.
Movies were just romantic comedies or plots about ancient history with a propagandistic purpose.
It’s what we call the “Telefoni bianchi” [white telephones] Era, named after a particular use of design and aesthetics in movies. The black bakelite telephones were not considered stylish enough, so the director Alessandro Blasetti required to paint the telephone in white to get a perfect delightful scene since the telephone was the only dark element in a room furnished in white. Nowadays, in Berlusconi’s Italy, the “think posive” attitude is turned from an ethereal white into a more fleshy pink. Pink is the dominating colour and female flesh is its perfect backup.
The pleasures of Venus are the main theme of a propaganda created to make Italians think everything is all right. Advertising, entertainment, politics, are carried by the use of female bodies… we will see how next time.
Follow me!

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In the picture: a video still from the ADV of a famous italian drink.