A Street in Palermo (2013)

Two cars come face to face in a narrow street in Italy. When neither one of the drivers wants to back down to let the other pass, within no time the whole village is involved.

Director:

Emma Dante

Writers:

Emma Dante (novel), Emma Dante (screenplay)

Stars:

Emma Dante, Alba Rohrwacher, Elena Cotta

10 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Emma Dante	...	Rosa
Alba Rohrwacher	...	Clara
Elena Cotta	...	Samira
Renato Malfatti	...	Saro Calafiore
Dario Casarolo	...	Nicolò
Carmine Maringola	...	Filippo Mangiapane
Sandro Maria Campagna	...	Santo
Elisa Parrinello	...	Concetta
Giuseppe Tantillo	...	Salvatore
Daniela Macaluso	...	Maria Grazia
Marcella Colaianni	...	Patrizia
Giacomo Guernieri	...	Natale
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giuseppe Provinzano

Storyline

Two cars come face to face in a narrow street in Italy. When neither one of the drivers wants to back down to let the other pass, within no time the whole village is involved.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | title at the end | long take | running | lesbian kiss | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy Switzerland France

Language:

Italian Albanian

Release Date:

19 September 2013 (Italy)

Also Known As:

A Street in Palermo

Filming Locations:

Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vivo Film, Offside, Ventura Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Venice Film Festival 2013 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Cumu è sula la strata
Written and performed by Fratelli Mancuso

User Reviews

Backing up, backing down

From BIFF once again. Long time since I watched an Italian movie, so I thought I'd do it today.

And boy was it a treat! A p!ssing contest, literally....

An allegory of sorts about taking a stand, it depicts how 2 different individuals decide to dig in their heels and not yield or budge for the other.

Some may think that this is also a function of how the other characters enable them both (?) while having their own agenda for how it all plays out, with almost each individual/group thinking they're in control and making their respective plays whenever things slip just a little, right until the very end. IMO, it was also a function of where in life each character was at the time each couldn't/wouldn't back down.

A curious fact - one of the supporting characters in this one looked like a yesteryear baddie from 2 of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns - For a few dollars more and A fistful of dollars, and I confess it was nice to see that, and note the resemblance, and make my own assumptions about how that character's arc was gonna play out. A side note, but unique for me, and I hope, for a few others as well.

And the end. Debate on who you think yielded. Or didn't. :-).

The one thing that may have been slightly off-putting or confusing to some (not the very end, which I've tried to address later) but not to me, is a little presumptive (?) supernatural or pseudo- supernatural goings-on that color everything else differently when viewed in that context. Almost used, IMO, like the proverbial red herring.

Also, there's a segment right at the end that sharply divided audiences but I perceived it as an allegory (there's that word again) for our experience of the entire flick, on onlookers, plus of our tendency as human beings to always want to rubber neck when there's something that afflicts someone else. Sharp comment, that!

All in all, a damn good time at the movies.