Caterina in the Big City (2003)
"Caterina va in città" (original title)

When her father, Giancarlo is transferred to Rome from the small country town of Montalto Di Castro, Caterina, a 12 years old girl, will discover her new classmates, a totally new world, an... See full summary »

Director:

Paolo Virzì

Writers:

Francesco Bruni, Paolo Virzì

Stars:

Alice Teghil, Sergio Castellitto, Margherita Buy

4 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alice Teghil	...	Caterina Iacovoni
Sergio Castellitto	...	Giancarlo Iacovoni
Margherita Buy	...	Agata Iacovoni
Antonio Carnevale	...	Cesarino
Silvio Vannucci	...	Fabietto Cruciani
Federica Sbrenna	...	Daniela Germano
Carolina Iaquaniello	...	Margherita Rossi Chaillet
Zach Wallen	...	Edward (as Zach -James Smith- Wallen)
Martino Reviglio	...	Gianfilippo
Claudio Amendola	...	Manlio Germano
Flavio Bucci	...	Lorenzo Rossi Chaillet
Paola Tiziana Cruciani	...	Zia Marisa
Luigi Grilli	...	Zio Alfredo
Tereza Paula Da Rosa	...	Teresa
Renata Orso	...	Zia Adelina

Storyline

When her father, Giancarlo is transferred to Rome from the small country town of Montalto Di Castro, Caterina, a 12 years old girl, will discover her new classmates, a totally new world, an ambient extremely divided politically. She starts developing her friendship with the "left side", represented by Margherita, and the right, Daniela, side of her class. She will lose herself, without knowing who she really is. However, maybe Edward, the young Australian boy, who lives in the apartment across hers, can help her more that she thinks.

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Plot Keywords:

depression | elementary school | 2000s | italy | rome italy | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes you just want to fit in...or not

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

24 October 2003 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Caterina in the Big City

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$19,116 (USA) (17 June 2005)

Gross:

$293,268 (USA) (14 October 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cattleya, Rai Cinemafiction, Sky Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Corrado Fortuna: 

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Goofs

The story begins in 2003, but the dates do not match up with the days of the week for that year.

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Connections

References The Blues Brothers (1980)

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Soundtracks

"Inno ufficiale dei giovani fascisti"
Music by Giuseppe Blanc and lyrics by Vittorio E. Bravetta
Sung at the wedding reception

User Reviews

Caterina and her parents

"Caterina va in città" seems like your typical teen film. It somehow reminds me of "Thirteen", but it goes a little deeper than the average American teen film.

In American teen films the parents are normally reduced to simple shadows that serve more as a background for their sons and daughters' lives - they are either of the preaching-repressive sort, or the tolerant, ever-forgiving parents, that eventually through love will help their children to the way of redemption.

Not so, "Caterina va in città". In this film, not just Caterina ( Alice Teghil) but her parents as well are portrayed as three-dimensional human beings and this makes the film more interesting.

Caterina and her parents move from a small Italian town to Rome. And there Caterina's life will be shaken. She goes to high school and meets new friends - many new things happen in her life. She feels uprooted from her old self, and doesn't know anymore who she really is.

One can say that "Caterina va in città" is a coming of age film - it portrays her search for her place in the world - many American teen films tell the same story. But what differentiates this film from its American counterparts is the attention it gives to the parents. The father Giancarlo (Sergio Castellito) is a deeply disturbed personality. He thinks the world revolves around him and there's a conspiracy of important segments of society whose main aim is preventing him from succeeding in life. He is an egoist that treats his wife as a dumb servant and his daughter as a beautiful puppy. But no, he's not a "bad" man - in his own distorted way he loves his wife and his daughter. Sergio Castellito gives us a stellar interpretation as the problematic father, underlining his pathetic and quixotic traits. Agata (Margherita Buy), is his ever-enduring wife - she has a deeper layer than it may appear at first glance. And there's Caterina living with them, seeing them with her innocent eyes.

The other characters in the film are what one could call walking clichés. Nothing that has not been shown before in American teen movies. Politics shows its colors in the film, but in a very superficial way. It's not really essential for the film's story - left and right could have been easily substituted for rival football teams.

The ending (difficult to imagine in American films) will come as a surprise and have a liberating effect on the viewer. All in all, "Caterina va in città" is a good teen film thats stands a bit above the usual film of the genre.