Così ridevano (1998)

Director:

Gianni Amelio

Writers:

Gianni Amelio (writer) and
Daniele Gaglianone (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

2 October 1998 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Turin at the end of the fifties: two brothers have emigrated there from Sicily and the older works very...

Plot Keywords:

Turin | Sicily | Violence | Immigrant | Emigration

Awards:

5 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Francesco Giuffrida	...	Pietro
Enrico Lo Verso	...	Giovanni
Rosaria Danzè	...	Lucia
Fabrizio Gifuni	...	Pelaia
Claudio Contartese	...	Rosario
Domenico Ragusa	...	Simone
Simonetta Benozzo	...	Ada
Pietro Paglietti	...	Battista
Corrado Borsa	...	Teacher at Examination
Barbara Braga	...	Girl at Bar
Calogero Caruana	...	Giovanni's Friend
Edoardo Ciciriello	...	School Assistant from Naples
Valerio Contartese	...	Unemployed Boy from Calabria
Iolanda Donnini	...	Mrs. Verusio
Erika Doria	...	Alessandra
Pierfranco Ghisleni	...	Teacher at Examination
Massimo Greco	...	Carmelo
Giovanni Leoni	...	Soldier from Sardinia
Renato Liprandi	...	School Assistant from Turin
Antonio Madaro	...	Student from Lecce
Patrizia Marino	...	Mother from Foggia
Roberto Marzo	...	Giovanni's Friend
Luigi Mauro	...	Soldier
Francesca Monchiero	...	Girl from Foggia
Domenico Mungo	...	Cooperative's Director
Davide Negro	...	Giovanni's Friend
Fabrizio Nicastro	...	Student
Giorgio Pittau	...	Giovanni's Friend
Antonino Prestipino	...	Teacher at Examination
Salvatore Refano	...	Old Sicilian Man
Vittorio Rondella	...	Giovanni's Assistant
Rossana Rovere	...	Mother
Giuseppe Sangari	...	Boy from Foggia
Giorgia Scuderi	...	Assuntina
Paolo Sena	...	Prof. Rosini
Giuliano Spadaro	...	Father from Foggia
Ileana Spalla	...	Sister-in-law
Nanni Tormen	...	Brother-in-law
Irene Vistarini	...	Student
Pasqualino Vona	...	Giovanni's Friend
Giuseppe Zarbano	...	Giovanni's Friend
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Clara Droetto	...	La zia
GianNicola Resta	...	Young guy

Directed by
Gianni Amelio

Writing credits
Gianni Amelio		(writer) and
Daniele Gaglianone		(writer) &
Lillo Iacolino		(writer) &
Alberto Taraglio		(writer)

Produced by
Vittorio Cecchi Gori	....	producer
Mario Cotone	....	executive producer
Rita Rusic	....	producer (as Rita Cecchi Gori)

Original Music by
Franco Piersanti

Cinematography by
Luca Bigazzi

Film Editing by
Simona Paggi

Casting by
Lorella Chiapatti
Nicola Conticello

Production Design by
Giancarlo Basili

Set Decoration by
Nello Giorgetti

Costume Design by
Gianna Gissi

Makeup Department
Francesca Latella	....	assistant hair stylist
Giulio Pezza	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Stefano Benappi	....	assistant production manager
Fulvio Rossi	....	production manager
Lierka Rusic	....	production supervisor
Olivia Sleiter	....	production manager
Ladis Zanini	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lidia Biondi	....	assistant director
Elisabetta Boni	....	assistant director
Enzo Di Terlizzi	....	assistant director
Gianluca Greco	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Angelo Amatulli	....	boom operator
Alberto Doni	....	sound mixer
Alessandro Zanon	....	sound mixer
Francesco Perri	....	assistant sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Luca Ricci	....	special effects technician

Camera and Electrical Department
Eraldo Barbona	....	key grip
Salvatore Bognanni	....	assistant camera
Stefano Falivene	....	focus puller
Francesco Galli	....	electrician
Patrizio Marra	....	grip
Alessandro Saulini	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Patrizia Ceresani	....	assistant editor
Pasquale Cuzzupoli	....	color consultant

Music Department
Goffredo Gibellini	....	score mix engineer
Angelo Giovagnoli	....	orchestra coordinator

Other crew
Alessandro Fiorito	....	payroll clerk
Daniele Gaglianone	....	assistant to director
Lillo Iacolino	....	assistant to director
Gianluca Lazzaroni	....	production secretary
Melissa Strizzi	....	script supervisor
Alberto Taraglio	....	assistant to director

Production Companies

• Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica
• Pacific Pictures
• Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (MiBAC)

Distributors

• Alpha Filmes
• Cecchi Gori Distribuzione (Italy)
• Diaphana Films (France)
• New Yorker Films (2001) (USA) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Cine Audio Effects  sound effects and foley design (sound effects)
• Digital Records Roma  music recorded & mixed at
• Solare Location & Casting  casting

Also Known As:

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

France:U | Italy:T | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Turin, Piedmont, Italy

Company:

Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica

Trivia:

Despite winning the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, Gianni Amelio still had to wait over three years before he saw his film released in the US.

Quotes:

Giovanni:You think your children are your own, then they learn to walk and they leave you. Know what they say back home? "Raise hogs, 'cause then you can eat them"

Movie Connections:

References Rocco and His Brothers (1960)

mezza sola

"mezza sola" means half a shoe sole in italian. It is an expression used to describe something that didn't quite satisfy. After all the oop-la, the expectations for this motion picture were high. But at the end, our "stomachs" were left empty. Production-wise, it was poor: most of the shots are indoors, with very few outdoor shots. In the entire movie length, only one vehicle is seen. The movie is billed as the emigrant experience of a southern italian to the industrialized city of Turin in the late '50s. It is actually a family drama of the relationship of two brothers. It used the Turin emigrant story as background, and yet the city was hardly seen. If the movie was billed as the story of two brothers in China's Shangai, one could hardly find a problem with it (I say this to emphasize how much the "indoor" shots were dense). Also, each single take seemed to be three seconds too loooong. It is as if the director is in love with the story, he is financing the movie with his own money, and thus he feels justified to make his story told on his long, boring way. The style of the cinematography and costumes is a Spielberg-like focus on a few pivotal items such as rope being used to tie shut-closed the overbulging suitcases, the rawness of clothing, and the thick sician accented dialogues. But, like Spielberg's, this picture was noticeable in that it was a historical drama *intentionally* retouched awash in a sepia-backgrounded memory. To me, it trivialized the story. A more sucessfull aproach is Lina Wertmuller's, that, while certain traits are over emphasized, but justified if the film is not a drama but a comedy, in which the focus is not the manieristic style itself but the story, this in a mannieristic background.