Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Inheriting Totò's mantle, Massimo Troisi
(1953-94) is best known internationally for his
role in
Il Postino
(The Postman). In his debut
film of 1980,
Ricomincio da Tr
e (I'm Starting
from Three), he humorously tackles the prob-
lems faced by Neapolitans forced to head north
for work. Troisi's cameo in the schlock murder
mystery
No Frazie, il Caffè mi Rende Nervoso
(No Thanks, Coffee Makes Me Nervous; 1982)
- arguably one of his funniest - sees a ram-
bling, pyjama-clad Troisi hopelessly attempting to convince Funiculì, Funiculà (an un-
seen, helium-pitched psychopath set on sabotaging Naples' new jazz festival) that he is
only loyal to the city's traditional cultural offerings.
A new wave of Neapolitan directors, including Antonio Capuano (1945-), Mario Mar-
tone (1959-), Pappi Corsicato (1960-) and Antonietta de Lillo (1960-), have also turned
their cameras on the city in films such as Capuano's critically acclaimed
Luna Rossa
(Red
Moon) of 2001. While Corsicato's queer-centric classics
Libera
(Free; 1993) and
I Bucchi
Neri
(The Black Holes; 1995) evoke the ever-present link between the ancient and modern
sides of Naples, de Lillo's finest offering to date,
Il Resto di Niente
(The Remains of
Nothing; 2003), focuses on the psychological complexities of Eleonora Pimental de Fon-
esca; it's also the inspiration for De Simone's aforementioned oratorio.
Yet no recent film captures Naples' contemporary struggles as intensely as the multi-
award-winning
Gomorra
(Gomorrah; 2008). Directed by Rome's Matteo Garrone (1968-)
but based on the explosive book by Neapolitan Roberto Saviano, the film intertwines five
stories of characters affected by the ruthless Camorra.
While Naples' contemporary theatre scene re-
mains fairly hit and miss, one of its leading
talents is Enzo Moscato (1948-), whose work
fuses a vibrant physicality with skilful use of
dialect and music. His most famous work is
the 1991 multiple-award-winning
Rasoi
(Razors).
