Mother RAI sees and provides

And nothing, we had deluded ourselves, but just as swallows do not make a summer, even some good takings do not change a trend that is now clear and unavoidable such as the constant loss of spectators for cinemas. For example, a weekend at the end of May brought a 21% decrease in takings compared to the previous week and a further 60% decrease compared to the same weekend in 2023 which had already been an annus horribilis for the financial year.

And the imminent summer does not help to bring the spectator into the darkness of a room: television events such as the European Football Championships and the Olympics will also be added to the lure of the outdoor areas. Better for cinemas to save the popular titles for the autumn and propose the stocks as a revival of a 2004 Harry Potter (The
prisoner of Azkaban), yet another tired film with superheroes (Deadpool&Wolverine), a French animation (Robinson Crusoe), a handful of Italian horror films (The Devil's Tail, The Well) …

And so RaiPlay comes to our aid once again, the free Rai application from which quality Italian works emerge:

IL CLANDESTINO by Rolando Ravello with Edoardo Leo: a noir series in 12 episodes also appreciated by critics. Agent Travaglia leaves the Police after an attack. In Milan he finds his redemption by opening, with an enterprising friend, an unlikely detective agency serving the poorest.

BEETHOVEN'S NINTH: 200 years after the first performance, the recording of the concert conducted by Riccardo Chailly with the La Scala orchestra held in Milan a few weeks ago.

LA STRANEZZA by Roberto Andò with Ficarra&Picone and Toni Servillo. For Verga's 80th birthday, Pirandello returns to Sicily. The meeting with two amateur actors will give him new inspiration. A special film that is well directed and excellently acted. To be reviewed or recovered.

THE MAGNIFICENT CORNED by Antonio Pietrangeli. While waiting for better times, a classic of our comedy with (trumpet blasts) Ugo Tognazzi, Claudia Cardinale, Gian Maria Volontè, Bernard Blier, Salvo Randone.

STREHLER, HOW IS THE NIGHT? by Alessandro Turci. A journey through the career of the most celebrated theater director through voices and testimony from the Rai archives.

Davide Bracco
NP June / July 2024