Weekly Dose of Italian Culture #6
Welcome to the sixth episode of Weekly Dose of Italian Culture! Normally, full access to posts in this series is reserved for premium subscribers, but to celebrate the launch of my live Italian classes (use coupon IWASAVE10). I'm making this edition freely available to everyone!
Italian Movie of the Week
This week, I recommend La meglio gioventù (2003, The Best of Youth).1 Likely the longest movie you’ll ever see, it’s an Italian epic that spans nearly four decades, from 1966 to 2003.
The movie is so long (6 hours!) not only because it spans many years but also because it was initially conceived as a television miniseries.
It offers an in-depth exploration of Italian society and politics through the lives of two brothers, Nicola and Matteo Carati. Their personal journeys intertwine with the societal shifts in Italy during this period, creating a compelling story of love and family set against the backdrop of recent Italian history.
Everything about this film is beautiful: the actors, the performances, the cinematography, the storytelling, and the character development. It's like an infusion of Italy straight into your veins.
Italian Song of the Week
My song of the week is I migliori anni della nostra vita (The Best Years of Our Life) by Renato Zero.
In this song, Roman singer Renato Zero, invites us to truly appreciate life as it is now and to consider that, despite our problems, these might be the best years of our lives:
Penso che è stupendo restare al buio abbracciati e muti, I think it's wonderful to stay in the dark, embraced and silent, come pugili dopo un incontro. like boxers after a match. Come gli ultimi sopravvissuti. Like the last survivors. Forse un giorno scopriremo che non ci siamo mai perduti... Maybe one day we’ll discover that we were never lost... E che tutta quella tristezza in realtà , non è mai esistita! And that all that sadness, in reality, never existed!
Famous Italian of the Week
This week’s famous Italian is Salvo D'Acquisto, a Carabinieri officer (a member of the military police) and a hero who gave up his own life to save 22 innocent civilians from execution by the Germans during World War II.
In 1943, following an armistice with the Allies, German forces occupied much of Italy. On September 22, an explosion resulted in the deaths of two German soldiers. The Germans suspected sabotage and planned to execute 22 local civilians in retaliation.
Salvo D'Acquisto tasked with investigating the explosion, clearly determined that it was accidental. However, the Germans wouldn’t accept this conclusion and still planned to proceed with the execution of the civilians, forcing them to dig their own graves.
To save their lives, D’Acquisto falsely confessed to being behind the explosion, leading to his immediate execution by a firing squad. Posthumously, he was awarded la Medaglia d'Oro al Valor Militare (the Gold Medal of Military Valor,) Italy's highest military honor. In 1983, the Catholic Church initiated his cause for beatification, in recognition of his sacrifice.
Geography Fact of the Week
The Traforo del Gran Sasso is a unique road tunnel in Italy. It’s the third longest in the country, stretching about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), but that’s not all—it's also home to the largest underground laboratory in the world dedicated to particle physics.
Operated by Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN), the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) uses the tunnel’s depth to shield experiments from cosmic radiation.
It is part of the A24 motorway which links Rome with the Adriatic coast, so you’ll likely go through the tunnel if visiting regions such as Marche, Abruzzo, or Apulia from Rome.
History Fact of the Week
Napoleon Bonaparte had Italian origins; his original last name was Buonaparte, which changed later to sound more French. Born in Corsica just a year after France acquired it, he grew up speaking Italian at home, and his French was initially weak.
Although he ultimately became fully French, Napoleon remained fascinated with Italy throughout his life. In fact, after France gained control of northern Italy, he literally crowned himself King of Italy in 1805. He abdicated in 1814 after his defeat and exile to Elba (a beautiful island off the Tuscan coast).
Italian Custom of the Week
Italians are known for their later meal times. We usually have lunch between 1 and 2 pm, while dinner won’t take place before 8 or 9 pm.
Most restaurants will be closed during the mid-afternoon. Restaurants that are open all day are often tourist traps with questionable authenticity, quality, and prices.
And on that note, here are a few other ways to immediately spot tourist traps:
They have a guy standing outside, inviting you in.
They have menus in multiple languages.
Their menu has a lot of pictures.
Their menu or waiter demands tips.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Weekly Dose of Italian Culture. A presto! (See you soon!)
It’s worth noting that the title is (intentionally) grammatically incorrect. The proper expression in Italian would be La miglior gioventù or La migliore gioventù.