Movie under the tree

And then the unexpected happens: a good Italian comic actress comes out in theaters with her first film as director and outperforms all the others at the box office, even outclassing the new (yet another) Marvel superhero adventure.

There's Still Tomorrow by Paola Cortellesi is a case with over 13 million euros in grosses.
It is a film capable of exciting the audience thanks to a mix of memories of the past (black and white and the characters of Italian cinema of the 40s/50s) and unfortunately still contemporary themes such as female redemption against patriarchal violence. It really seems that in recent weeks spectators have started frequenting theaters again, almost at a pre-pandemic level. We hope that this trend will be confirmed as the statistically best period for films approaches, such as the Christmas holidays.

Perfect days by Wim Wenders.
A fiction film that looks like a documentary. Always fascinated by Japan, the director tells the seemingly ordinary life of a solitary man but with many intellectual curiosities that help him overcome the mistakes of the past. At the last Cannes festival, the film convinced everyone.

The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki.
The Japanese master of animated cinema (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro) seemed to have retired, but surprisingly returns with a film set in the 1940s between realism and fantastic glimpses of the great director's personal style.

Santocielo by Francesco Amato.
The probable Christmas success for a comedy starring the favorites Ficarra and Picone and Giovanni Storti of the comedy trio. Plot top secret at the moment, but a celestial messenger is descending to earth...

Finally the dawn of Saverio Costanzo. A work set in Cinecittà during the golden age of Hollywood on the Tiber, starring an aspiring actress and directed by one of the most interesting directors of Italian cinema.

Leaves in the Wind by Aki Kaurismaki.
A mechanical worker and a supermarket cashier meet, get lost and try to find each other again in the Helsinki night. The most awarded European film of 2023.

But also the return of Aquaman, of Willy Wonka and his chocolate, a new animated film from the creators of the Minions... happy holidays!

Davide Bracco
NP December 2023