Baarìa (2009)

Baaria is Sicilian slang for Bagheria where Tornatore was born and this is an autobiographic epic of three generations in the Sicilian village where he was born.

Director:

Giuseppe Tornatore

Writer:

Giuseppe Tornatore (story)

Stars:

Francesco Scianna, Margareth Madè, Raoul Bova

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 12 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Francesco Scianna	...	Peppino Torrenuova
Margareth Madè	...	Mannina
Raoul Bova	...	Roman journalist
Giorgio Faletti	...	Corteccia
Leo Gullotta	...	Liborio
Nicole Grimaudo	...	Sarina as a girl
Gabriele Lavia	...	Teacher
Ángela Molina	...	Sarina
Enrico Lo Verso	...	Minicu
Nino Frassica	...	Giacomo Bartolotta
Aldo	...	Speculator (as Aldo Baglio)
Ficarra	...	Nino (as Salvatore Ficarra)
Picone	...	Luigi (as Valentino Picone)
Marcello Mazzarella	...	Podestà
Luigi Lo Cascio	...	Beggard's son

Storyline

The film begins in the 1920's, in the Sicilian town of Bagheria (a.k.a. Baaria) where Giuseppe "Peppino" Torrenuova works as a shepherd to financially help his poor family. Over the next 50 years Giuseppe's life, as well as the life of the village, is observed. Giuseppe grows up, joins the Communist Party, marries a local girl (Mannina), has children and forges a political career for himself.

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Plot Keywords:

children | epic | communist party | 1920s | farm | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [fr]

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Sicilian Italian English

Release Date:

25 September 2009 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Baaria

Filming Locations:

Bagheria, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

€28,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,900 (USA) (28 January 2011)

Gross:

$4,900 (USA) (28 January 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Medusa Film, Quinta Communications, Regione Siciliana

Technical Specs

Runtime:

150 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Opening film at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.

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Connections

References The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

User Reviews

Local boy remembers

Lovely to look at. A chunk of 1900 set in a small Sicilian town, that town where Giuseppe Tornatore, the writer director, was born. I thought it was a delightful two and a half hours of snippets between fades to black. just like memories work, a bit of this and a bit of that. A tapestry of highs and lows among the remarkably unremarkable. My only puzzlement comes with the way Italians are reacting to "Baaria" Even if it was at the top of the box office charts there is tendency to dismiss this film for not confronting this for not confronting that for being too "clean" and a lot of other absurdities like that. This is an epic, expensive looking, personal film by the anointed "best living Italian Director" which means a director that is marketable in other countries, specially USA. I can predict that Americans will love "Baaria" in spite of the red flags and the romantic view of communism. They know that school of thought is by now as anachronistic as a typewriter and just as harmless. The leads are played by two scrumptious new stars and from the collection of cameos I took away with me Angela Molina and Lina Sastri remain vividly in my mind.