What is the state of the Italian Movie Industry? From the amount of films crossing the ocean, I would say pretty bad. Still, Italians can do films. I can easily mention few filmmakers that deserve some credits: Sergio Rubini, Gabriele Muccino, Ferzan Ozpetek, Gabriele Salvatores, Nanni Moretti, Alessandro D’alatri, Silvio Soldini and I am sure there are many more.
So, why is it that few know or watch Italian movies?
Have you ever tried to buy an Italian DVD in Italy? Did you then try to bring it over to the US so that you could share it with some of your American friends?
Not an easy task, I can assure you.
First: they are very expensive.
Second: there is the annoying region protection. For some reason Italian distributors are very concerned that somebody may watch their movie outside Italy. You need a special DVD player to play these DVDs or you may watch them on your computer.
Third: most of these movies don’t have English subtitles. This must be to make sure that non-Italian-speaking-people don't find out how good our movies really are. How much is the cost of having English subtitles with respect of the cost of making and distributing a movie?
It seems to me the Italian Movie industry is very concerned that people around the world may find out the product is actually pretty good. What they produce is like a special cheese that loses its entire flavor as soon as you cross the border.
Italian Movies: for some but not for everybody!
Michele Ursino
