Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Crepax loved playing at battles and would change the outcomes, using his friends to fine-tune the moves. He had some famous personalities as willing participants in the games, too.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Guido Crepax's son Antonio talks about the day Antonio Custra was killed in May of 1977, during an armed demonstration in Milan. This was during the so-called anni di piombo (years of lead), a period of social turmoil, political violence and upheaval that lasted from the late 1960s until the late 1980s, marked by a wave of both far-left and far-right incidents of political terrorism and violent clashes. Many demonstrators were arrested, but Antonio Crepax managed not to get loaded onto a paddy wagon.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Just as in Cubist art, Crepax would design his figures to be seen from various points of view simultaneously. Sometimes he would use small windows to attract attention rather than making them larger.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Who was the model for Valentina? Certainly, the actress Louise Brooks who portrayed Lulu in the movie Pandora's Box directed by G.W Pabst (based on two plays by Frank Wedekind), but also Crepax's wife, Luisa Mandelli.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Crepax's stories were based on imagination and vision. In those years, artists contaminated one another's works, and there was even a curious connection between Crepax's Ciao Valentina and Antonioni's Blow-Up.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Which came first? Blow-Up or Ciao Valentina? Which work stole from the other? In any case, there are some striking similarities.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
We've come to the end of this journey to find Valentina. Philip Rembrandt continues to wait, and Valentina never forgets him.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Ettore Della Giovanna, noted Italian journalist (1912-2004), interviews Giuseppe Ungaretti, considered one of the greatest poets of his time, besides having been a writer and scholar.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
After thanking his host for his kind words, Ungaretti begins talking about his life. He gives a lot of credit to young people, first of all.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Ungaretti talks about how he got his start. He frequented a café in Paris, where artists and poets would gather.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Ungaretti mentions 2 poets who attracted him as a youth: Mallarmé and Leopardi. He talks about the famous poem Alla primavera, o delle favole antiche by Leopardi but gets the title wrong. You can see the entire poem (in Italian) here.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Giovanna, a resident of Campania, explains how tomato puree is made, and then preserved in glass jars.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Giorgia performs the song "Gocce di memoria" [Drops of Memory]. The artist wrote the lyrics to music by Andrea Guerra. It was featured in the 2003 film "Facing Windows" by the director Ferzan Ozpetek.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
Singer-songwriter Giorgia presented this single at the Festival of Italian Music, Sanremo 2025. She describes it like this: "'La cura' for me is a song that tells of a search through a very strong feeling, therefore also an awareness of the strength of this feeling and also moments of fear, moments of deep solitude." In short, we must be our own cure.
Difficulty:
Intermediate
Italy
This was Gianna Nannini's first hit song in 1979. The popular song with its provocative lyrics is aimed at an adult audience.
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