🇮🇹5 FILM in italiano su 5 italiani FAMOSI

0:00 Today I'm taking you on a special journey through Italian history and culture,

0:05 featuring five figures who have profoundly influenced Italy:

0:10 philosophers, politicians, poets, and musicians.

0:12 You may already know some of them, while others may be new to them,

0:17 but they all left their mark, in their own way, on the history of this country.

0:22 And we'll do so, again, by talking about films— five extraordinary

0:26 films that beautifully capture their lives, ideas, and conflicts.

0:32 So, if your goal is to delve deeper into Italian

0:35 culture as well as learn the Italian language, biopics,

0:39 like the ones we'll see today,

0:41 are a fun and effective way to do both at the same time.

0:47 My name is Davide, and this is Podcast Italiano,

0:51 a channel for those learning Italian and Italian culture.

0:54 Turn on subtitles if you need them;

0:57 remember that the full transcript of all these videos is on my website,

1:03 podcastitaliano.com, and that I've also prepared a PDF,

1:07 as always, to accompany this video.

1:09 A PDF accompanying the video: inside,

1:12 you'll find additional recommendations for biopics to watch,

1:15 in addition to the ones I'll give you in this video, along with a synopsis,

1:20 directions on where to watch each of these films, and more.

1:24 So, I'll leave the link in the description

1:26 if you'd like to download the free PDF,

1:29 but you can also scan this QR code with your phone.

1:33 I recommend doing so because we always put a lot of love, care,

1:39 and effort into creating these PDFs, and the students who use them love them.

1:46 Let's begin our cinematic journey,

1:48 which is also a historical and cultural journey.

1:51 As I mentioned, I'll recommend five biopics about five historical figures,

1:56 and I'll do so in chronological order.

2:01 1.

2:01 The first film I'd like to suggest,

2:06 made famous by Gian Maria Volonté's powerful performance,

2:11 is the 1973 biopic Giordano Bruno, directed by Giuliano Montaldo.

2:17 The film, which stood out for its rigorous historical reconstruction,

2:24 won the Nastro d'Argento (award given by the National

2:29 Union of Italian Film Journalists) for Best Production Design.

2:34 As the title suggests, the film recounts the life of Giordano Bruno,

2:39 a Dominican friar born in 1548 who

2:43 became famous as a theologian and philosopher,

2:46 but above all as a symbol—a symbol still recognized today—of freedom of thought,

2:53 secularism, and the pursuit of knowledge capable of transcending dogma.

3:00 Giordano Bruno, in fact,

3:02 developed a truly revolutionary conception of the cosmos.

3:08 Before Giordano Bruno, Copernicus had already placed the Sun at the center

3:14 of the solar system and the Earth in motion around the Sun,

3:19 but he still conceived of the universe as finite.

3:24 Bruno reworked Copernicus's thought,

3:26 transcending it and making it even more radical:

3:30 Bruno argued for the infinity of the universe,

3:34 its being without boundaries and without a center,

3:37 and furthermore conceived of it as populated by a plurality of inhabited worlds.

3:43 For Bruno, every star was a sun,

3:46 around each star orbited planets, some inhabited,

3:49 and the Earth was but one of these many planets,

3:53 with no privilege over the others.

3:56 Finally, Bruno conceived of God as present in nature,

3:59 a form of thought more pagan than Christian,

4:03 defined as "pantheism." A truly revolutionary thought, therefore.

4:08 His break with dominant Catholic thought cost Giordano Bruno first

4:14 persecution by the religious authorities and then, even, his life.

4:19 He faced a lengthy trial, during which he was forced to renounce his ideas.

4:25 Bruno firmly refused and was therefore condemned

4:28 to death for heresy by the Roman Inquisition,

4:32 and finally burned alive in Rome's Campo de' Fiori on February 17, 1600.

4:38 A statue in the middle of the square still commemorates his heroic death.

4:44 The film focuses on the final years of Bruno's life,

4:49 from his return to Italy after years spent in France,

4:53 Germany, and England, to his trial and execution.

4:57 The work recounts his tireless search for the truth,

5:01 emphasizing above all the conflict between his freethinking

5:05 and the rigidity of the religious authorities.

5:09 The work is characterized by a highly theatrical acting style,

5:14 with long, intense dialogues.

5:15 I want to show you a little bit of it.

5:18 Let's look together at a beautiful scene

5:21 from Giordano Bruno in which the protagonist

5:24 draws attention to the revolutionary potential

5:27 of using reason to arrive at the truth.

5:31 2.

5:35 With the second film, Good Morning, Night,

5:57 we take a long leap from the 1600s to the 1970s.

6:33 Marco Bellocchio's 2023 film (winner of the Special Jury Prize

6:40 at the Venice Film Festival that year) recounts the kidnapping, detention,

6:44 and killing in 1978 of Aldo Moro,

6:48 president of the governing Christian Democracy party,

6:53 by far-left terrorists from the so-called Red Brigades.

6:59 Aldo Moro, played in the film by Roberto Herlitzka,

7:05 was one of the most important politicians

7:07 in the history of the Italian Republic.

7:10 At the time of his kidnapping,

7:12 he was on the verge of forming an alliance with the Italian Communist Party,

7:17 for a collaboration between the country's two main political forces,

7:22 a collaboration that would stabilize democracy:

7:26 the so-called "historic compromise." Moro's kidnapping was one of the most

7:32 dramatic episodes of the years of terrorism in Italy,

7:36 the so-called Years of Lead,

7:38 and marked a path of no return in Italian political history.

7:42 In the film, the entire story of Moro's kidnapping, imprisonment,

7:46 and murder is told from the perspective

7:49 of the only female member of the commando, Red Brigades member Chiara,

7:53 inspired by the real-life figures of Anna Laura Braghetti and Adriana Faranda,

7:58 and played by a very young and talented Maya Sansa.

8:02 It is through Chiara's eyes and by experiencing her internal conflicts

8:06 that we understand and experience the climate

8:10 of political tension of those years.

8:13 The film has a dual narrative level:

8:16 it alternates moments of faithful historical

8:18 reconstruction and even original television footage

8:20 of the period with other moments of a more reflective and dreamlike nature;

8:27 the characters, including the terrorists themselves,

8:31 are thus humanized, without justification or judgment.

8:35 Let's watch a scene from Good Morning, Night in which Chiara reads Moro's last,

8:42 heartbreaking letter to his family on the eve of his execution.

9:15 Fun fact: Good Morning, Night was appreciated both by Aldo Moro's family

9:48 and by some former Red Brigade members, right?

9:52 Members of the Red Brigades; one of them said:

9:56 "His friends denied the authenticity of his letters,

9:59 while some of us, in reading them,

10:02 found ourselves associating them with those of those condemned

10:06 to death in the Resistance.

10:08 The film emphasizes this, and it's absolutely true." 3.

10:12 The third film I recommend is by the same director as Good Morning,

10:19 Night, Marco Bellocchio, and is titled Vincere.

10:23 With Vincere, we travel back to the early decades of the twentieth century,

10:27 the years of the birth and growth of fascism.

10:31 The film centers on Ida Dalser, Benito Mussolini's first wife,

10:37 officially married in church, and their son Benito Albino Mussolini,

10:42 both tragically erased from the existence of the Duce

10:45 and the world in a brutal manner.

10:48 In the film, Ida is masterfully played by actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno,

10:53 while Benito Albino is played by actor Filippo Timi.

10:57 The film won numerous awards,

10:59 including eight David di Donatello Awards—best director,

11:02 cinematography, production design, costume design, makeup, hairstyling, editing,

11:06 and special visual effects—as well as three

11:10 Golden Globes and four Silver Ribbons,

11:12 as well as various other international prizes.

11:15 So this is a film worth seeing!

11:18 The film begins in 1907, the year Benito Mussolini met Ida,

11:27 and culminates in their son being committed to a psychiatric hospital.

11:31 Ida falls in love with Mussolini before his political rise,

11:35 a period during which she supports him financially and becomes a mother.

11:40 Mussolini initially falls in love with her, but then,

11:45 after coming to power, rejects her and denies their relationship.

11:50 Not only that, he distances both her and their son from himself and the world,

11:55 having them both committed to a mental hospital.

11:58 The film also introduces the figure of Rachele Guidi, Mussolini's second wife,

12:03 whom he married in a civil ceremony,

12:06 and shows how his previous relationship with Ida affected their private lives.

12:10 Let's look at one of the opening scenes of Vincere,

12:14 in which a very young Mussolini challenges God, thus winning,

12:18 with the same pompous and empty

12:21 rhetoric that would characterize all fascist communication,

12:23 the heart of the beautiful Ida.

13:07 The film had the merit of bringing the forgotten figure of Ida Dalser,

13:13 a witness to the darkest aspects of the birth of fascism,

13:16 back to Italian society's attention.

13:17 Oh, and if you're interested in learning about the history of fascism,

13:22 we've created five episodes on our podcast,

13:26 which I'll leave you in the description;

13:29 and we recently published a single podcast

13:32 that you can listen to from start to finish,

13:35 if you want to learn more about this period.

13:38 We did a good job, I think.

13:41 I'll leave the link in the description.

13:44 4.

13:44 The fourth film I recommend is Il giovane favoloso,

13:49 a 2014 film directed by Mario Martone.

13:54 The fabulous young man alluded to in the film's title is Giacomo Leopardi,

14:00 a poet, writer, and philosopher of the first half of the 19th century,

14:05 one of the greatest authors of Italian literature and world poetry,

14:09 and a leading exponent of Italian Romanticism.

14:12 Giacomo Leopardi, played in the film by the great Elio Germano,

14:17 is a poet well-known in Italy, whose poems are studied in schools and who has

14:24 contributed significantly to the formation of Italy's cultural identity.

14:29 A fun fact: the film's title is taken from a story by writer Anna Maria Ortese,

14:36 which describes a pilgrimage to the poet's tomb in Naples:

14:42 "So I thought of going to the cave, at the bottom of which,

14:46 in a land of light, the fabulous youth has been

14:49 sleeping for a hundred years." The film recounts Giacomo's intellectual journey,

14:53 his oppressive family relationships, his friendships, his physical suffering,

14:58 but also the creative process that led him to write his most famous works.

15:03 As a child, Giacomo revealed an extraordinary intelligence and a love

15:07 of culture that grew in the library-like house in Recanati,

15:11 in the modern-day Marche region,

15:13 where he lived with his siblings Carlo and Paolina, his mother, and his father.

15:18 Leopardi had a difficult relationship with his father:

15:22 Monaldo Leopardi was an authoritarian nobleman with a rigid, harsh manner.

15:26 At a certain point in his life,

15:28 Giacomo no longer contented himself with the comfort

15:31 he found in study and writing, and wanted to leave home and his family,

15:37 sharing the world of his literary friends with whom he corresponded frequently.

15:42 A first attempt to escape, using a false passport,

15:46 failed due to his father's intervention.

15:49 But at twenty-four, Giacomo finally managed to leave Recanati.

15:53 He lived in Florence, Rome, and Naples;

15:57 he experienced friendship and love; the latter, unfortunately, was unrequited.

16:02 He frequented literary salons and continued

16:05 to publish works of poetry and prose.

16:08 But in the meantime, sadly, his physical health deteriorated.

16:12 He died in Naples, after witnessing an eruption of the volcano, Vesuvius,

16:18 and after giving the world the famous poem

16:21 "La ginestra," which we Italians must study in school.

16:25 Maybe we'll talk about it sometime;

16:27 I'll make a video about poetry; if you're interested, leave a comment.

16:30 Let's now look together at a scene

16:33 from the film that captures the creative moment that led

16:37 Leopardi to write the famous "Dialogue between Nature

16:42 and an Icelander," which is included in his Operette morali.

17:56 Il giovane favoloso" was a huge success with audiences and critics.

18:00 It won two David di Donatello awards (for costumes and makeup),

18:04 and a special Nastro d'Argento for Germano for his portrayal of Leopardi.

18:09 It also generated significant box office success,

18:12 helping to renew popular interest in the poet we all know in Italy.

18:21 So...

18:21 recommended!

18:22 5.

18:23 We conclude our anthology of biopics

18:28 with the 2018 film Fabrizio De André- Principe libero,

18:34 directed by Luca Facchini.

18:36 Originally created as a Rai TV miniseries,

18:40 it was later released in theaters in a shorter, abridged version.

18:45 It received critical and public acclaim,

18:48 particularly for the performance of actor Luca Marinelli,

18:52 who won the Premio Flaiano for his role as the protagonist.

18:57 Fabrizio De André- known to his fans as "Faber"- is

19:00 one of the most important Italian singer-songwriters of the twentieth century.

19:05 We can undoubtedly say that "Faber" marked an era, in Italian music and culture.

19:12 His songs have addressed themes such as marginalization,

19:16 anarchy, social criticism, love, and poetry.

19:19 And he is still beloved today by listeners of all generations.

19:24 So, if you've never listened to him,

19:27 I recommend you check out something by De André.

19:30 The film opens with the story of a dramatic event

19:33 that severely affected the life of the singer-songwriter and his family:

19:38 on the evening of August 27, 1979, Fabrizio and his partner, singer Dori Ghezzi,

19:45 were kidnapped from their villa in Sardinia, where they had recently settled.

19:52 Their captivity brought back many memories for Fabrizio,

19:57 starting with his childhood and youth:

20:00 the first guitar he received as a gift from his family;

20:04 the law studies he abandoned to devote himself to music;

20:09 the wild nights in Genoa with friends;

20:12 the bourgeois gatherings organized by his rich and ambitious father;

20:17 His meeting with Luigi Tenco,

20:19 another important singer-songwriter of the Genoese school,

20:22 and his friendship until Tenco's suicide during the 1967 Sanremo Music Festival.

20:28 And more: his first studio album; the birth of his son,

20:33 Cristiano; his divorce from his first wife; his meeting with Dori Ghezzi;

20:38 the birth of his emotional bond with Sardinia, and much more.

20:42 Let's watch together a scene from Fabrizio De André- Il Principe libero,

20:46 the scene of his pivotal meeting with Mina,

20:50 a very important, iconic singer whose voice brought De

20:55 André's "La canzone di Marinella" to television, bringing him fame.

22:17 The story ends symbolically with the breaking of the so-called

22:21 "fourth wall." The miniseries has helped renew interest in De André,

22:26 even among younger audiences,

22:28 keeping alive their love for one of the greatest poets of Italian song.

22:34 Well, we've come to the end.

22:36 If you found this journey through 5

22:39 films and 5 lives of famous Italians interesting, please leave a comment.

22:45 Let me know if you've already seen any of the films mentioned,

22:48 what you thought of them,

22:49 if you liked them, or if the video piqued your interest

22:53 and you're thinking of watching one of the suggested films.

22:55 I'm curious, and if you have any other recommendations,

22:59 let me know in the comments.

23:01 Now, I'd like to remind you of our PDF (which you can also download here,

23:05 using this QR code next to my head) where you'll

23:08 find instructions on how to watch each of these films,

23:11 as well as other viewing suggestions for biopics about other famous Italians.

23:17 The link is also in the description, so take a look.

23:22 We always put a lot of effort into creating PDFs, so I think you'll enjoy them.

23:28 If you're interested in discovering 4 films to learn more about Italian history,

23:34 you might be interested in the video I'm leaving here now,

23:39 which you can click on if you like.

23:44 See you next time!