Cinema Dolce: Watch Splendid Tales From Italy at EmQuartier

BANGKOK — Harvey Keitel and Michael Caine are a pair of faltering creatives while a more surreal couple scour an empty world to repair a broken friend in films to show at next week’s Italian Film Festival.

Seven films include three contenders for the 2015 Palme d’Or will bring the best of Italian cinema to audiences Sept. 13 through 18 at EmQuartier.

In “Youth,” Caine and Keitel are men at the end of life’s accomplishments on vacation in the Swiss Alps where they confront the struggle between age and youth, life and death. The English-language dramedy by Paolo Sorrentino got a positive response after its Cannes premiere was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards.

A troubled female director melts down on the set in “My Mother,” which also received a warm welcome as a Palme d’Or entry.

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Things take an avante garde turn in 2015 dark fantasy “The Bear Tales,” with two lonely, surreal figures journeying through a world abandoned by humans in their quest to reanimate a torn teddy bear. The story is adapted from famous fables such as Cinderella, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. It stars Salma Hayek.

Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s first feature “Antonia” is a biopic about the transient life of Antonia Pozzi who after his death has become one of the most important Italian poets of the 20th century. Lead actress Linda Caridi will attend the opening ceremony of the festival.

For those looking for a laugh, “An Italian Name” unfolds over the course of a dinner between old friends who get tangled up on politics and relationships while debating what to name a coming child. “The Repairman” portrays the rambling life of a failed engineer who earns a living by fixing coffee machines.

For some controversy, check out “Me, Myself and Her,” a love story between two women and their struggles to find true identity.

Tickets range from 150 baht to 300 baht and can be reserved via the Major Cineplex website.

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The festival runs Sept. 13 – 18 at EmQuartier’s CineArt theater. The full schedule can be found online. All films show in Italian with English subtitles except “Youth” which is in English. EmQuartier can be reached via skywalk from BTS Phrom Phong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gevnrK0400