49
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Italian Film Festival/Conference 49
cinema.indiana.edu
Carlo Verdone
One of Italy's most popular contemporary film-
makers, Carlo Verdone is the son of film historian
Mario Verdone. He graduated from the Experi-
mental Center of Cinematography in Rome. By
chance, he began acting in a small theatre,
where he developed a series of interesting char-
acters based on people that he knew from his
neighborhood. He soon took these characters to
television and eventually brought them to screen
in his own films. He wrote and directed his first
feature film in 1980 in which he acted, and has
been creating some of Italy's best comedies ever
since. His work has earned him dozens of Golden
Globe,
®
Donatello, and Italian Film Journalist
awards and nominations.
A Flat for Three
(2012)
Directed by Carlo Verdone
April 26 - Saturday - 7:00 p.m.
Described as an "Odd Couple for the new
millennium," except here there are three di-
vorced men who decide to share an apartment
together in Rome. All three are drifting towards
uncertain futures while still stuck in unresolved
pasts. One (Verdone) is a record collector lost
in a world of classic rock; another is a former
film critic reduced to writing gossip columns,
and the last tries to sell real estate as an ex-
cuse to meet women. Clearly a response to the
economic and spiritual crisis gripping Italy, the
film is one of Verdone's most sharply observed
comedies. (HD. 119 min. Not Rated.)
Me, Them and Lara
(2009)
Directed by Carlo Verdone
April 25 - Friday - 7:00 p.m.
Father Carlo (Carlo Verdone) is in
spiritual crisis and returns home
after more than a decade spent in
Africa as a missionary. In Rome,
he finds his family in disarray--his
brother is addicted to cocaine
and bankrupt, his sister struggling
with her teenage daughter, and his
widowed father now has a Slavic
mistress named Olga who is much
younger than him. A twist of fate
delivers the enigmatic and seduc-
tive Lara into their lives triggering
a series of mix-ups that the family
must resolve. This Italian screwball
comedy won the Best Comedy
(Italian) Golden Globe
®
in 2010.
(HD. 115 min. Not Rated.)