| Caro Diario | |
|---|---|
Italian film poster |
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| Directed by | Nanni Moretti |
| Produced by | Nanni Moretti |
| Written by | Nanni Moretti |
| Starring | Nanni Moretti Giovanna Bozzolo Sebastiano Nardone Antonio Petrocelli Giulio Base Italo Spinelli Carlo Mazzacurati Jennifer Beals Alexander Rockwell Renato Carpentieri Raffaella Lebboroni Marco Paolini Claudia Della Seta Lorenzo Alessandri Antonio Neiwiller Conchita Airoldi Riccardo Zinna Moni Ovadia Mario Schiano |
| Music by | Nicola Piovani |
| Cinematography | Giuseppe Lanci Marta Maffucci |
| Editing by | Mirco Garrone |
| Release date(s) | 1993 |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | France Italy |
Caro diario (English: Dear Diary) is an Italian language, semi-autobiographical film in the style of a documentary directed by Nanni Moretti in 1993. Moretti also played the central character.
Contents |
The film is made up of three autobiographical episodes: sections, as the title suggests, of an open diary—that of film director and film producer Nanni Moretti.
The first episode follows the director/main character riding a Vespa through the neighbourhoods of a summery and half-deserted Rome. Shots of landscape, architecture, and beautiful monuments accompany his thoughts, which range from critiques of Hollywood cinema (specifically the contemporary movie Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer), to critiques of banalization of the Italian cinema, to a chance meeting with Jennifer Beals, to sociology and urbanism. The episode ends at Ostia, close to the place where Pier Paolo Pasolini was killed.
The second episode cuts to Nanni escaping from the frenzy of city life on a journey through the Aeolian Islands. Visiting his friend Gerardo on the island of Lipari, he retired to study on the lost island where he can't even receive the television signal. But he is unable to find the tranquillity he desires, due to the number of tourists. So Nanni, accompanied by Gerardo, moves to Salina Island. The two are welcomed by a couple, friends of Gerardo, who seem incapable of managing the education of an extremely over-indulged child. (Indeed the entire island seems to be under the rule of children.) Gerardo lets himself be influenced by the boy, who spends hours in front of the television, and discovers soap opera. Gradually Gerardo becomes entirely dependent upon the genre. Nanni, now even more exasperated, decides to move, still accompanied by Gerardo, to the island of Stromboli, but even this choice proves unfortunate: the two now have to deal with a megalomaniac mayor who wants to involve them in the most odd projects. While visiting the volcano Gerardo becomes still more gripped by the soap operas, to the point of asking American tourists what happens in the episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful, which haven't been broadcast in Italy yet.
Disgruntled by the latest failure Nanni decides to move on the island of Alicudi, the least civilized of all, lacking water and electricity. At last Nanni seems satisfied with the accommodation, but Gerardo is impelled to escape from the island as soon as he realizes he cannot follow his favourite soap opera there.
The final episode narrates the difficult diagnosis of a disease that affected Moretti in real life and has the symptoms of persistent itching and disturbing insomnia. Nanni goes through a load of doctors and specialists who, between superficiality and false knowledge, suggest the most bizarre diagnoses. His desperation is such that he also tries alternate treatments, like Acupuncture. After having tried them all, another doctor suggests an X-ray after noticing his developing cough. This X-ray reveals a mass on the lung which after a biopsy he is diagnosed as suffering from a malignant, but treatable lymphatic system tumour. The illness symptoms, which Nanni found in a medical encyclopedia, are those he declared to the "deaf" doctors. The episode concludes with a bitter and sarcastic toast alla salute! (English: To health!), accompanied by a glass of water.
Moretti won the award for Best Director at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival.[1]
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