Tomasso, a self-centered surgeon with a long-suffering staff, begins investigating his son’s nightly outings and discovers that he attends lectures given by the charismatic Father Pietro (Alessandro Gassman, son of Vittorio). When young med student Andrea tells his secular family he has decided to become a priest, his parents, Tomasso (Marco Giallini) and Carla (Laura Morante of Assolo), are stunned. The hilarious comedy God Willing has a religious theme, too, one that corrects the common misconception of Italians as a nation of devoted Roman Catholics.
OPEN ROADS NEW ITALIAN CINEMA MOVIE
The movie also depicts the incident that resulted in charges being brought against him in 2005 for his alleged complicity in the Perón government’s abduction of two priests when he was Jesuit provincial. While Call Me Francesco is a flattering portrait of the Pope, it touches upon his tacit support of the controversial Liberation Theology movement those sympathies led to the young priest running afoul of Church authorities.
Filmed on location in Pope Francis’ native Argentina, it is set during the “dirty wars” of the Perón era. The movie, based on a biography by Argentinian journalist Evangelina Himitian, features an excellent performance by Rodrigo de la Serna ( The Motorcycle Diaries) in the starring role. The latter is about the young Jesuit priest, Father Jorge, who rose through the ranks of the Vatican to become “ il papa,” the current Pope Francis. Others have more commercial appeal, such as Laura Morante’s urbane comedy Assolo ( Solo), in which the director stars as a middle-aged woman in the throes of a mid-life epiphany, and Carlo Lavagna’s pensive drama Arianna, a modern twist on a young woman’s quest for identity.Īmong the dozen narrative features, three standouts are Edoardo Maria Falcone’s comedy Se Dio Vuole ( God Willing), Vincenzo Marra’s drama La Prima Luce ( First Light), and Danielle Luchetti’s biopic Chiamatemi Francesco: il Papa della Gente ( Call Me Francesco, the Pope). Some movies, such as Adriano Valerio’s narrative feature Banat, are excellent art-house fare, and represent Italians’ concerns with an economy that compels young people to look abroad for employment. Sponsored by several Italian institutions, the broad mission of “Open Roads” is to showcase Italian cinema, but like all film festivals it also represents an effort to garner wider distribution for its 14 feature-length films. A welcome alternative to summer blockbusters, the films also provide a wonderful snapshot of contemporary Italian culture. This one-week festival, in its 16th year, screens at the Walter Reade Theater in New York City June 2-8. That is what makes “ Open Roads: New Italian Cinema” so unusual. A few are regional, but rarely is there one devoted entirely to movies from a single country. Large or small, the vast majority of film festivals are international.
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