Il mio viaggio in Italia (1999)'s comments

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dombrewer

This lengthy documentary from Martin Scorsese is a love letter to the Italian films he grew up watching on a tiny television set with his Sicilian grandparents in New York or with his father or friends in the local cinema, and was inevitably influenced by as a young filmmaker.

Scorsese's passion for film is obvious, and infectious - hearing him passionately discuss and dissect some of the great films of world cinema is like having the best ever film lecturer explaining to you the wonderful naturalism of De Sica, showing the way Rossellini constructs a narrative, or pointing out a favourite scene of Fellini or a favourite shot by Antonioni. It's addictive.

For films you've already seen it's great to share his thoughts and experiences (personally I put films like "Bicycle Thieves", "Umberto D" and "L'Avventura" in my all time top films and his shared enthusiasm is a pleasure) for films you haven't it's a treasure trove of future experiences, although in the downside he doesn't shy away from giving away the plots and showing the ends of the films he chooses to concentrate on. In some cases you could reasonably say some of the pleasure of discovering the film has been well and truly taken away - spoiler

indeed.

It made me wish that Marty would do some more long documentaries to complement this and his extended investigation of American film, he's so convivial and insightful a guide. One for lovers of Italian film as well as for those who should be.

11 years ago

camilocabrera22

Usually people get excited about a movie by hearing about it from someone else. But when Martin Scorsese is doing the talk... that’s another story.
What a wonderful documentary. Got to watch all of the films.

11 years 10 months ago