Lorraine Bracco on Goodfellas, therapy, and almost turning down The Sopranos
I ask Lorraine Bracco if she remembers the first time she saw Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese’s dazzling portrait of life in the mob. “Absolutely,” she says. “It was last year.” Which is strange, given the film came out in 1990, and Bracco was one of the stars. She is laughing as she speaks, a husky giggle, her accent doorstop-thick New York. “Well, I...
Italia-USA: Poletti risponde a Nissoli (DS-CD) sull’aggiornamento dell’accordo di sicurezza sociale
Nella seduta di oggi nell’Aula di Montecitorio il Ministro del lavoro Giuliano Poletti ha risposto alla interrogazione di Fucsia Nissoli (Ds-Cd) sull’aggiornamento dell’Accordo di sicurezza sociale tra Italia e Stati Uniti. “In un contesto sociale in continuo cambiamento, - ha detto oggi la parlamentare eletta in Nord e Centro America, presentando...
The Portent
Because it was politically sensitive, Giuseppe Verdi’s new opera Un ballo in maschera made the Italian censors nervous. They forced Verdi to change the action to someplace farther from home. He chose seventeenth-century Boston. The King of Sweden became the Governor of Boston. When Un ballo in maschera came to the United States in 1861, it was quit...
La lingua italiana in America? Si salva con pazienza e sapienza
Assiduo e attento lettore dei preziosi interventi sullo specifico della cultura e dell’insegnamento dell’italiano negli States da parte di un’addetta sul campo, diciamo fra i banchi, l’esperta Filomena Fuduli Sorrentino, mi sorprende l’allarme di catastrofi presenti e incombenti sull’esistenza e addirittura sulla sopravvivenza della nostra cultura...
Luca Guardabascio: come ho realizzato il docu-film sull’Andrea Doria
Dopo tanti riconoscimenti per il documentario che racconta l'affondamento dell'Andrea Doria, Luca Guardabascio vola a Los Angeles per la proiezione di "Are the Passenger Saved?". In questa lunga intervista il regista si racconta e analizza il rapporto del cinema italiano con l'AmericaLuca Guardabascio è un regista che con umiltà e passione è riusci...
Il viaggio di Cono alla scoperta del Siculish: «Faccio rinascere la lingua degli emigrati»
Cosa accade quando il dialetto siculo varca i confini della sua terra natale e approda negli Stati Uniti? «Ho sempre subito il fascino del siciliano e delle parlate locali – afferma Cono Cinquemani, linguista trentaseienne, originario di San Cono (in provincia di Catania) – Tutto iniziò quando, da...
TWC Acquires Remake Rights To Italian Comedy ‘Perfect Strangers’
The Weinstein Company is snagging the English language remake rights to the hit Italian com Perfetti Sconociuti, which translates to Perfect Strangers — a film that was released last year in the country and won a number of top film awards. It also was a local-language success when it was released last year. The film is about seven lifelong friends...
Jazz Italian Style. From its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra
Jazz music has a long history and many influences. With Jazz Italian Style: From its Origins in New Orleans to Fascist Italy and Sinatra (available February from Cambridge University Press, $44.99), Anna Harwell Celenza examines the Italian influences on the development of American popular music. When jazz arrived in Italy at the conclusion of Worl...
For Tony Bennett, quality really matters
Here’s a little perspective on how long Tony Bennett has been a star: “Hank,” a recent biography of country music icon Hank Williams, notes that Bennett was one of the first “pop” stars to have a crossover hit with one of Williams’ songs, “Cold, Cold Heart.” Williams died in 1953. There isn’t much Bennett hasn’t done in his career. He’s gone from r...
How the Italian Lifestyle Inspired Piada's Founder
I went to Tulane University in New Orleans, and prior to that my family opened a restaurant here in Columbus, Ohio, called Lindey’s. It’s an Upper East Side, New York–style café-bistro that has now become an institution in Columbus. It opened in 1981, and that was the year I started college, so my career was launched with the family business. When...
Ilaria Costa: “Negli Stati Uniti c’è oggi la mitizzazione dell’Italia”
“L’immagine dell’Italia, oggi, è idealizzata. Nessuno si sofferma sui problemi della politica. Non importano più di tanto. Sì, è vero, a volte c’è chi fa una battuta ironica. Ma, tutto là. C’è una mitizzazione dell’Italia come terra del buon gusto e della ‘Dolce vita’. Insomma, del Paese dove lo stile di vita è unico”. Ilaria Costa non riesce a con...
Italian Explorers Day
For this article I would like to address the controversial topic for Italian-Americans, “Columbus Day” vs. “Indigenous Day”. Over the last several years there has been a growing complaint by Native Americans that Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was a really bad guy, and that the nation should not celebrate his arrival in the new world. Also, the c...