Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
Giuditta and Marino give us details about what life was like in isolation. Challenging for sure, but with some good aspects, too!
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
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.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
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.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
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.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
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.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
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!
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
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.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
The Taviani brothers talk about how color and images can be more important than the story itself. There are clips from interviews with them when they were much younger, and the director of photography contributes some thoughts, as well. The movie featured in this segment is Good Morning, Babylon from 1987.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Parking is a problem in medieval hilltop towns and cities (especially those attractive to tourists), so one solution is to build an elevator to get from parking further down the hill, up to the center of town. But, you never know what you are going to find when excavating. In Assisi, they certainly hit the jackpot, right in the center of town: A roman domus.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Domenico asks his cousin for some money to go to Rome, and goes to see the town priest to see if he can get a ride. But there is an emergency, and his priorities have to shift.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
The directors talk about the important role the sea played in their films. Another element that played an important part was color, used to express feelings and situations.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
We're in Assisi, where, during some excavations, a domus was discovered. It's clear it belonged to a wealthy family because of the richness of the wall and floor decorations, and might even have been the home of the poet Propertius.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Domenico tells his story to the audience, and to us, as he takes us back to when he was a youth. There was one movie theater in town, and he was always there.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
The Taviani brothers talk about how their movie Under the Sign of Scorpio was received at the Venice film festival, and about their location scouting for the film.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
With a look at one of the greatest Etruscan masterpieces in the Villa Giulia museum, we take our leave of Rome to journey to the Umbrian city of Assisi, or, as it was called in Roman times, Assisium.
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