A New Flavor of Comencini

                Italian cinema has historically not been considered very influential on the international level.  The cause of this was the fact that all classic Italian films were focused on Italian issues, people, and culture.  Disconnect between Italian culture and international themes kept Italian cinema off the map in the film world.  Various political regimes and other factors also kept foreign films from entering the country.  The absence of fresh film slowly stagnated until the Italian film industry almost collapsed in the 1980s.  Many film companies began to sell out to television.  Movies would be premiered on the small screen rather than the big screen.  The Italian populace suffered under this film culture drought. Something new was needed to re-stimulate the industry and bring it international fame.  This “something new” came in the form of a new generation of film directors who went back to the basics of film in order to fix the mistakes of Italian cinema’s past.  By telling simple, yet intriguing stories about everyday life, the directors managed to bring Italian cinema back into the light.  The simple themes of their films transcended national borders and brought the country international fame as well.  One of these new directors is Cristina Comencini, a young Italian woman who has already won recognition in foreign countries.

                Cristina Comencini is one of the four daughters of the famous Italian film director/writer Luigi Comencini.  Luigi also fathered three other daughters (Francesca, Paola, and Eleonora), each of whom is now involved in filmmaking.  Each member of this family brings his or her own personality to filmmaking.  Luigi is known for writing about the plight of children; Francesca focuses on documentary film; Paola is a production designer for both film and television; Eleonora is a director, actor, and production manager but can’t stay settled on which she likes best; and Cristina writes about family, love, and the complexity of women.  Cristina is the most famous out of the four because of her nomination for The Beast in the Heart (2005) for the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film.  It is because of directors like Cristina that Italian cinema has recently been put back on the map and is putting the film industry through a cultural revolution.

                One of the reasons Cristina is unique is the fact that her movies focus on the inner workings of families and their interactions with the outside world.  Cristina says that she uses the topic of families because she believes that, “by analyzing the need to withdraw and open up so as to not go bad, [one] will be able to understand the way people are, what they want, [and] how they change and stay the same” (Laviosa 6).  She also stresses the fact that the keystone to a successful family is the love between the man and woman who decide to have kids.  All these important themes come together in Cristina’s films and produce a rather unique experience.  In Cristina’s analysis of family, she often likes to explore taboo themes such as interracial marriage, career vs. family, incest, and the outrageous lies the family produces to shield itself from the outside world.  Some of her films include: Bianco e Nero, a film about a hidden relationship between a white man and a black woman; La Bestia nel Cuore, a woman struggles with her childhood memories of incest; and Matrimoni, the ‘perfect woman’ breaks down and abandons her family.  These films challenge the traditional beliefs of the Italian culture and open viewers’ minds to possibilities they didn’t really exist only a decade ago.  Interracial marriage was very rare and was generally frowned upon as recently as the early 90s.  By directing a full-length film on the topic and having success with it, Cristina showed that it is now acceptable in Italian society.  In her newest work, Due Partite, Cristina demonstrates the pain caused by the woman’s desire to follow her career while also trying to build a family.  Although she shows that the pain the female’s ambition causes is bad, she does not denounce females in the workforce.  She believes that woman should concentrate on either family or work, not both.  In La Bestia nel Cuore, Cristina shows the struggle between basic human instinct and cultural morality.  One thing that is common in all these movies is her focus on the woman’s role in all of these situations.

                Being one of the few big female directors in Italian cinema, Cristina uses her gender and unique perspective to her advantage.  She captures the complexity of women perfectly, thus allowing viewers into the mind of the character and its actions.  If one wanted to know how women think, watching one of Cristina’s films would be the best option.  When asked why her female characters were so complex compared to their male counterparts, Cristina responded, “I believe that the complexity of man does not emerge in the private sphere.” She goes on to say that man’s personality can be very elaborate, but in her family-themed films, man is one dimensional and therefore simple.  She also states that a woman’s intricacy stems from her ability to present family, love, hate, beauty, ugliness, old-age, and tenderness. When put together in the family setting, it creates an interesting juxtaposition of emotion.  Cristina’s success has been inspiring young women to try their hand at filmmaking in Italy, and is thus bringing more and more of the female influence on both film content and production.  Although well-recognized females are still rare, it is possible that Italian cinema will have a large contingent by the end of the next decade.  Being the first major female film director in Italy since 1976, Cristina is a huge influence on Italian filmmaking.

Due to the fact that Cristina writes about current themes, her female dominated films are on the bleeding edge of Italian cinema.  Fifteen years ago, a movie like Bianco e Nero would not be allowed to be screened in Italy.  The reason for this was because at that time, only political-themed movies were produced.  Cristina, along with the new generation of filmmakers, is trying to change that.  People became so caught up in writing movies about politics that it seemed that they forgot about the best type of cinema; cinema that stems from the simple everyday life events.  Instead of writing a political satire or even a narrative with political ideas in mind, the filmmakers are writing about funny, unique, sad, exciting, and odd stories that show the rich culture of Italy and engage directly with viewers. 

In a way, Cristina’s films are breaking down both cultural and international bonds.  Italian culture is known for spaghetti, wine, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Mafia.  Thanks to Cristina and the new generation of film directors, Italian filmmaking may soon be added to that list.  Because her films have such basic and common themes, they are received positively in many different countries. As a result, Cristina’s work has become pretty successful overseas.  This popularity was sealed with her Academy Award nomination in 2005.  One thing that Cristina is particularly proud of is the blurring of the line between Italian literature and filmmaking.  She has done this by writing books and then making them into movies as well.  Many times directing actually inspires Cristina to write a new book.  She feels that both are pillars of Italian culture and that neither one is more important than the other.  Cristina hopes that one day Italian films will not only focus on the Italian culture and locale, but also the major themes of Europe.  With the speed and talent of the newest generation of Italian filmmakers, it is not hard to imagine that this change will come about.