The political vision of the Taviani brothers comes through in their movies, especially Allonsanfàn. The choices they made in the story were simply a reflection of their thinking at the time, not because the movies themselves were affiliated with a particular political party.

Ancient culture merged with "modern" culture, especially after Constantine created the new capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople. Near Matera in Basilicata, even caves built into the rock face became churches. The frescoes on those walls are quite stunning.

Domenico gets on the pilgrimage bus to Rome and entertains his fellow passengers with a song. Don Antonio might have made different song choices... At the convent where the pilgrims are staying, Domenico makes friends with Father Mello.

Nora discovers that Ugo is taking skating lessons on his own. She meets up with Cecilia to choose some wedding accessories, but clearly, Cecilia is distracted and finally confides in Nora about her feelings. Naturally, Nora compares every relationship to the one she has or had with Ugo.

Eva meets up with Max to discuss the plan. Later she meets with the girls with hopes of involving them. And finally, Eva goes to see Augusto.

After summing up about the passive voice, Daniela goes on to talk about some other related constructions. It's important to remember that the passive is formed with transitive verbs only. But when we don't have a named subject or agent, we have a few other ways to make a sentence passive-like. One way uses the famous particella (particle) si. Si is used for so many things in Italian that it is bound to create confusion for learners, even advanced learners. Don't worry, part 3 of the lesson will explain further. Another way uses the verb andare (to go) to indicate something that must be done. Here too, the stress is on the action, not the subject or agent.

What symptoms did Giuditta and Marino have? And how did they handle their family duties?

Giovanni's patient is a bit off-balance and Orazio is very uncomfortable in her presence. His doctor's visit isn't much better.

This segment explains the title of the movie, Saint Michael Had a Rooster. The Taviani brothers, as well as the lead actor, talk about some aspects of the story, and Nanni Moretti comments on the camera technique.

If you have ever visited Italy, you have probably run across the term pinacoteca describing a picture gallery, and wondered where it came from. You will find out in this video about a room called the "tablinum" in the Assisi domus, discovered because they wanted to build an elevator!

In Sicily, at one time, horses would work in the sulfur mines and slowly become blind. The story is told through a Sicilian ballad, sung by Domenico Modugno. Mimì's mother sits with him as he prepared his bags, but she struggles to understand why he would want to leave. See complete lyrics (in Sicilian) here.

Perhaps as an apology, Ugo makes some sketches for the wedding on ice. The wedding couple practices at the rink, but there is a visitor. Dino and Melody have a moment, but his mother may not be so thrilled about that.

Renzo is playing soccer and wants to take the penalty kick. Virginia goes to meet her former husband's ex-wife and son. Gaetano and Bettina are spending their lunch hour together, but he seems a bit distracted.

Lorenzo and Dante meet up at the park and commiserate a bit. Dante asks Lorenzo for a favor.

Are you ready for the passive voice? In many ways, the Italian passive works as it does in English. If we have a subject, a transitive verb and a direct object, we can form either an active phrase or a passive one. But there are some rules, and Daniela sets out to explain them.