Small Dose of Italian Culture #31
Welcome to the 31st edition of Small Dose of Italian Culture!
Italian Movie
Il mostro (The Monster, 1994) is a hilarious comedy starring Roberto Benigni and his wife, Nicoletta Braschi. The plot revolves around a serial killer who has been on the loose for years. Due to a series of misunderstandings, the police come to suspect Loris (played by Benigni) of being the killer. To catch him in the act, they send an undercover policewoman (played by Braschi) to seduce him and provoke an attack.
Remarkably, the film is available for free with English subtitles on YouTube. I highly recommend you watch it.
Italian Song
A powerful Italian song I recommend is La canzone di Tom by Il Teatro degli Orrori. While it's far from mainstream, it has a devoted indie following thanks to its raw intensity. If you're into rock with a theatrical and dramatic edge, I’d give it a listen.
Famous Italian
Giacomo Leopardi (1798 — 1837) is one of Italy’s most celebrated poets and authors. Every student in Italian schools spends countless hours studying his work, with L’Infinito and A Silvia being two of the most widely memorized and analyzed poems.
His life was marked by suffering and isolation, which deeply influenced his writing and led to his death at a relatively young age. If you’re ever near Recanati, I highly recommend visiting his childhood home, which has been turned into a museum.
