Caterina in the Big City

I really enjoyed this film. At first I was really all that interested because I felt the story was a little slow to pick up but by the end I really liked the message it was sending about growing up and trying to find out who you are. In the story Caterina wasn't the only one growing and learning. Both her mother, Agata, and her father, Giancarlo had changed along with her.

Caterina learned how and what really divides people. She learns how strongly politics affect the children in her school and how much that means to them. Giancarlo learns, through his endevers to get his book read, that success is all in who you know. He sees first hand that along Daniela and Margherita's fathers are from opposing political parties they still respect each other but neither of them will give him the time of day.

By the end of the movie all the characters have grown into different people. Agata, Caterina's mother grows to respect herself and realize that she deserves true happiness. Giancarlo learns of Agata's affair, and is discouraged about his book so he disappears. And Caterina makes a decision for herself, kissing the boy next door, instead of being lead by the girls at school.

La Dolce Vita

Before this I had never seen the film La Dolce Vita but had heard about it before. I found it very interesting, clearly ahead of its time. However, I also found it a bit overwhelming. The story telling style is quite different than other films of the time and that along with reading subtitles made it difficult for me to keep up with what was going on.

I like how the film depicted Marcello and his struggle to connect with the people around him. It gave an honest look at human nature and how we are all looking for human connection but we're not always sure what connection we're looking for

Roman Holiday

I've been a big Audrey Hepburn for quite some time now so this is one movie that I had already seen. Like some of her other films this film starts out as a lighthearted, fun love story. Then the conflict that Bradley faces is introduced. He's forced to decide to either betray princess Anne and publish his experiences with her or to be loyal to her and forget about his job.

I didn't realize how much of a political message this film had until after we discussed it in class. Looking back at the film now I can definitely see how Anne protrayed the European side and Bradley's character protrayed America. Throughout the film there were signs of the power struggle between the two characters. One of the most famous scenes depicts Princess Anne taking control of the scooter and driving.

Ultimately it seems as if Bradley held the power throughout the movie. I feel this way becuase his character consistantly had demeaning photographs and information about the princess. Her reputation was totally in the hands of Bradley, who in the end decides not to publish it. And by the end the power had shifted because Bradley handed over the pictures to the princess. In that scene Bradley was depicted as one reporter in a sea of news people while Anne was the princess that everyone in the room looked up to. So in this respect I think the movie was more of a coming of age story.

Blog Entry #1

I don't have an personal cultural background in Italy but I do think it's a fascinating country. I'm interested in learning more about the culture because I know most of what little knowledge I have stems from the romanticized ideas of the country.

I haven't learned much about Italy in the past. Some of my views of the country certainly come from some of the films I've seen already. Even then I haven't really seen that many Italian films, not that I can recall. I've only seen two of the films that we're going to watch this semester, Roman Holiday and Rome Open City. I'm certainly interested in learning more about more realistic views of the country and it's culture.