Improvvisamente l'inverno scorso (2008)

Directors:

Gustav Hofer
Luca Ragazzi

Writers:

Gustav Hofer (writer)
Luca Ragazzi (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A couple engage in discussions with people on the street, politicians and religious leaders about the discrimination against gays and lesbians in Italy.

Plot Keywords:

Italy | Gay | Gay Couple | Gay Interest | Gay Marriage

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Gustav Hofer	...	Himself
Luca Ragazzi	...	Himself
Frank Dabell	...	Narrator (English version)
Veronica Pivetti	...	Narrator (Italian version)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paola Binetti	...	Herself
Rocco Buttiglione	...	Himself
Franco Grillini	...	Himself
Barbara Pollastrini	...	Herself
Cesare Salvi	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Suddenly, Last Winter (International: English title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

HIQ Productions

Political and personal

I saw this film in its English-language version on Swedish television. It follows a gay couple who decide to film a documentary about the fight for a law to allow civil unions for gay couples in Italy. It seems like something of a vanity project with its focus on the couple's own emotional journey, but it also offers a look into the Italian political process and into the homophobia and religious sentiment that stand in the way of gay rights in Italy and elsewhere. The result is worthwhile for followers of the issue, though not essential viewing.

The English version that I saw contained narration which referred to the two protagonists in the third person, and which was carried out in a somewhat naive tone. I thought this was annoying and diluted the role of the gay couple as authors of the film.