The Great Beauty

The Great Beauty felt like a modern La Dolce Vita with its artistic style, depiction of the upper class, and poetic overtone. The film was a little confusing at times, as characters were quickly woven into and out of the story at whim. My favorite part of the movie was probably the creative cinematography and editing. Like La Dolce Vita, The Great Beauty had moments of poetic gravity. I would have liked to see a more concrete storyline or descriptive ending, but the film is still worth a second watch.

The Mafia Kills Only in the Summer

I didn’t love this movie. The humor in it was a little silly for me, especially overlying such a dark and serious topic. I think one of the reasons I didn’t love it is I just got back from a trip to Sicily with my Italian Mafia class.  We went to Palermo and met with survivors of mafia attacks and people whose children have been killed by the mafia.  In a way the movie seemed to me that it was meant for children because the humor was a little bit childish. The thing  did like about it was the film was combined with the news clips of the killings of all the magistrates in Palermo.

The Mafia Only kills in the summer

As someone who personally loves Palermo, I genuinely enjoyed watching this film. The scenery showed a lot of the city and provided me with enough knowledge of the Mafioso history of the city that I was granted a better understanding of it by the time the film ended. At first, I was slightly put off by the satire being made on mob whackings, but when I realized that it was a tool to shed light on the somewhat broken society that allowed these people to come into power in the first place, I actually appreciated it a lot more and liked the movie a lot more as a result. Although, the only problem I still had with the film was with Flora, she did not seem very compelling but rather a typical female character who is the love interest of a male that can be found in any other movie, I did not understand Arturo's infatuation with her.

The Mafia Only Kills in the Summer

I really enjoyed the last scene in this movie. This scene serves as a nice way to conclude the film. We watch as Arturo and Flora bring their son the various memorials for the men involved in ending the Mafia violence in Palermo. At each memorial the camera pans to their son who increases in age each time. It almost insinuates Arturo and Flora's son will grow up to have a similar interest in reporting and the Mafia just as Arturo did as a child and adult. The music playing during this final scene made it feel very sentimental and nostalgic. However, I felt the scenes leading up to this scene were abrupt. The film goes from Flora and Arturo kissing in a crowd to Flora giving birth. I feel like skipping the story inbetween these scenes made it difficult to follow the story. I think there could've been a smoother transition.

The mafia kills only in the summer

I absolutely loved this film. I really enjoyed the narration of his life and his obsession with the Mafia and its presence in Palermo. However, I did not understand his obsession of Flora. She disrespected him many times, even when they were little. Arturo bought her Irises every day and she had the audacity to believe the other kid over him. Also, when he asked her to be honest about her speech and he was, she got mad at him! After that, I was so disappointed in Arturo for still pining after her.

La grande bellezza

This movie was definitely an art house film. It was really beautiful because Jep is a writer and the audience sees the world through his eyes. He tends to attribute meaning to simple things and the world looks more beautiful. For example, whenever he looks at the ceiling, he sees the ocean. The film, riddled with metaphors, stands out as a piece that questions beauty and elitism. After his birthday party he becomes more self-aware and questions the extravagance that surrounds him. Most importantly, he begins to see Rome in a different light.

Human Capital

Human Capital uses an alternative narrative style to tell the story surrounding two families and their relation to an accidental murder. The choice to tell this story was probably one of my favorite things about the film. By only showing certain parts of the chronology at certain times, the audience is able to learn more about the characters and events and piece it all together on their own. Had the story been laid out chronologically, I do not know if it would have the same effect.