dossier
2/7/2001SUMMER MASTERPIECES
[by Callisto Cosulich]
Grab "Il Messaggero" from Sunday, July 1, open it to the film listings, and you see Pearl Harbor and Shrek strewn through 21 and 25 theaters, respectively. The third title isn't so blatantly publicized, however; you have to hunt for it. It's "Chiusura Estiva" (closed for the summer), presented on 23 screens. This is the current state of things in Rome. I have good reason to believe that in other cities, where cinema has even less pull than here in the Capital, "Chiusura Estiva" prevails over every other title despite many good proposals to extend the movie season to twelve months, as it is in other countries.Is this Italian anomolie incurable? Is it written in the DNA of the Italian spectator that one must avoid movie houses during summer months? It would seem so, given the durability of the phenomenon. It was also true in wartime, when gas was scarce and second homes were the privilege of very few. But it's also true that last year some steps were taken in the other direction. The American's dared to risk releasing Mission Impossible in July, with "winter" box office takings, while the eagerly anticipated Pane e tulipani, having triumphed at the David di Donatello, was able to enjoy an unhoped-for extended run.
This year though, the miracle doesn't appear about to repeat itself. At least, not at last year's levels, seeing that the Americans have cut back every which way, while Europeans (with Italians in first place) have been left to try whatever they can. Entrepreneurs are hoping for financial intervention by the State, which quite reasonably doesn't intend to intervene in the absence of a worthwhile proposal. It is not conceded, anyway, that such financing is justifiable to sustain programming that would be risky, if bold, by distributors and exhibitors. In compensation, the current state favors the diffidence of the public towards going to the movies during the summer.
Nothing to be done, in fact, to belie the widespread if incorrect assumption that summer is a sort of "banquet of leftovers". First of all, the mass media is lined up behind what has by now become legend. Certain local promotional weeklies such as Rome's "L'Acchiappafilm" suspend publication. Certain popular film criticism columns are held in abeyance ("Donna", "La Repubblica"'s Tuesday insert, has already done so). TV stops airing trailers; they will resume in the fall..
Even if we doubt the effect of those publications on the growth of the number of spectators, their suspension certainly has a psychological effect, even on those who don't read them -- that in this season nothing is valid, nothing is worth publicizing, nothing very important is coming out. Instead, it can happen that the greatest number of films of indisputable quality are released in the summer. It's no fairytale: all you have to do is open a weekly or monthly dedicated to film, such as "Film-TV" or "Ciak", to see that those getting thumbs up are mostly released at Christmas. Yet, in the last decade, some very important and beautiful films have been issued in June, such as La ciénaga, My generation, Operai, contadini, Ritorno a casa, Vengo e Yi Yi (without citing the merits, scrupulously listed in the already cited publications); in July and August we can look forward to L'anguilla by Shohei Imamura, which will finally appear on our screens after winning the Golden Palm at Cannes two years ago; The Yards, second work by James Gray, the director of Little Odessa, one of the most solid "crime movies" in recent years; Figlio di due madri by the tireless Raul Ruiz with Isabelle Huppert (in competition last year at Venice); Parola e utopia by the equally indefaticable, ultra-ninety-year-old de Oliveira (also in competition last year at Venice); two prize-winning first films Tutta colpa di Voltaire by Abdel Kechiche and Djomeh by Iranian director Hessan Yektapanah; the African Adanggaman by Roger Gnoan M'Bala (one of the few films from Africa to make it here, which is always a guarantee).They'll say these are cult films, only for the sophisticated palate. It's true. But this is exactly why they deserve to be distinguished from the list of leftovers that distributors pass around in summer. Nourished by a few Hollywood blockbusters, they could contribute to keeping the summer season alive, including all the movie houses, from multiplex to art house. Exactly the way it works in other countries.
And Italian films? That's a tougher question. At the moment, it's hard to imagine an Italian film, expected to succeed, that would snub a festival to be released directly in cinemas. For now, let's just try to render the season fresher and more appetizing. Then we'll see.
