Italian Film Festival preview

LITTLE ITALY: The 14th Italian Film Festival runs from November 4-18 at the Suter Theatre and State Cinema.

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Be it cars, romance, crime, art, political scandals or movies, nobody does it like the Italians - and there's something of all of those ingredients at Nelson's Italian Film Festival.

Variety is the spice in this year's Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival, with its 17 movies representing the broadest offering of films in the festival's 13-year history.

While romantic comedies continue to be festival director Tony Lambert's first choice of movies to screen, he says this year's festival demonstrates "the rich variety of Italian cinema" and provides a lineup that "offers something for everyone".

For those unfamiliar with the festival's films, here are six picks from different genres, plus a look at what other options Nelson moviegoers will have.

Romantic comedy: Her Whole Life Ahead

Winner of the 2008 Italian Golden Globes for best film and best actress (Sabrina Ferilli), this sharp and witty satire that centres on the lives, loves and struggles of employees of an Italian call centre is the gala opening-night movie in this year's festival in Nelson.

Drama: The Deity

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, this intricate look at the complexities of postwar Italian politics focuses on a politician who has been prime minister three times and a parliamentarian for 63 years and who emerged unscathed from 26 court cases on charges of corruption and Mafia involvement.

Thriller: The Girl by the Lake

This multi-award-winning, engrossing tale involves an inspector's investigation of the mysterious murder of a young and beautiful woman, whose body is found naked, with no sign of sexual assault or struggle, at the edge of a lake.

Documentary: Biutiful Cauntri

Winner of the 2008 Italian Golden Globe for best documentary, this riveting and disturbing film looks at the illegal dumping of dangerous and poisonous waste, a big business in Italy andbig money-earner for the Neapolitan Mafia.

Historical drama: The Viceroys This historical drama recounts the history of Sicily through one of its noble families in the mid-19th century, becoming a political film with contemporary resonances and described as one of the best costume dramas to come from Italy in the past two decades.

Romantic drama: Talk to Me about Love Winner of the David di Donatello (Italian Academy Award) best first feature, this romantic drama not talks about not only love but also death, friendship, fear, a multitude of attractions and the fragility of life and relationships.

Other romantic dramas screening are Black and White, a comic look at infidelity, bigotry and the possibility, or impossibility, of racial integration and cross-cultural harmony in Italy; and Good Morning, Heartache, an amusing and bittersweet tale of how a couple's breakup affects the lives of those around them.

Other romantic comedies on offer are Sorry If I Love You, about a headlong collision between adults and teens that explores the age-old theme of finding courage to follow one's dreams; and Lessons in Chocolate, in which misunderstandings and mouth-watering recipes blend in a story about finding love and new meaning to life between disparate cultures.

Tempting drama fans are Piano Solo, a passionate and haunting true story based on the life of jazz pianist Luca Flores; At a Glance, a glamorous and scathing tale about a cat-and-mouse game between a powerful art critic and the young sculptor who steals his girlfriend; and The Rest of the Night, a powerful portrait of an changing, multicultural Italy through three intersecting stories of people from different classes.

In the comedy genre are Matchmakers, about two big-hearted guys who decide to make a fortune helping people meet and marry the person of their dreams – but then only having each other when their own love lives need fixing; and The Feast, a winsome and wacky ensemble harmer about three aspiring young film-makers dreaming of bringing a local woman's love story to the big screen.

For a worldly and topical thriller, there's Rush Hour, a story about tax evasion and corruption focusing on an Italian tax official who recklessly commits fraud and bribery in order to join Rome's nouveau riche.

The festival's other documentary, Ferrari: Red Footprints, describes how the Ferrari brand has become an icon and, for some, a religion, and what the company has done to enhance that image over the past 15 years.

- © Fairfax NZ News