Friday, February 26, 2010

Ciao! Amico! (Hey friend!)

I'm going to Italy. I'm putting my foot down so don't try to dissuade me with tales of rude Italians and pricey meals. I'm immersing myself in visions of copious mounds of homemade pasta, plates of cheeses and fat olives, and warm grapes popping with sunshine.

I've been watching old movies - till crazy hours of the night - featuring Italian landscapes filmed entirely in that dust-mote filled, late afternoon half light that helps me understand the popularity of nude beaches in Europe. Who wouldn't want to strip and soak it in?

The combination of the snippet of Sicily in The Godfather II I saw years ago, Under the Tuscan Sun, and some of my favorite books of all time (My Family and Other Animals and Eat, Pray, Love), I've built up the beauty of that area of the world and the wonderful weirdness of its people to impossible heights. There is no way my trip isn't going to be a let down.


I kind of love this poster though it is totally cheesy.

It seems like most of the movies that I've come across which feature Italy, have a common theme: women in restrictive environments, usually unappreciated, "find themselves" in a beautiful landscape, breezy dresses, and a young stud. Such is the case in Enchanting April, A Room with a View (Tuscany), and Bread and Tulips (Venice) which I have yet to see. I also want to see Italian for Beginners which apparently includes some language lessons. I love what a reviewer said about it,

"It's just a film about having no one to have pasta with and having someone to have pasta with."

***It turns out they made a movie of My Family and Other Animals! It looks hilarious and wonderful and has that dusty light I was talking about. Here's a clip.

1 comment:

Catherine said...

I DO enjoy your blog-- & that clip from My Family & other... does a good job of capturing the sense of the book!