Mi viaje a Italia

MY VOYAGE TO ITALY (directed by Martin Scorsese) What is it that's so relaxing about Martin Scorsese's voice? I don't know. I've talked to a few different people and we all find his voice to be so comforting. Plus he's smart. I loved his contribution to BFI's 100 Years of Cinema (released in the states as "A Personal Journey") and I really love the documentary "Martin Scorsese Directs" from the American Masters series. I've watched them both over and over.

So now I can add another documentary to that list with "My Voyage To Italy". Studying the most important age in film worldwide, Neo Realism, he examines the main players and their major films in a way that is engaging without condescension or over-statistical, boredom. The guy really loves movies and he knows what's important.

His film history is just one of many alternative histories to the one championed by film critics static in their culture and prejudices. In writing about Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini and my hero Antonioni he writes about what he loves and what he sees as important. He even picks films that were seen as disasters financially and critically pointing out how their importance was more profound than such predictable criteria. For example, Rossellini's "Voyage To Italy" was a critical and financial failure but what championed by the Cahiers Du Cinema writers like Godard and Truffaut.

Scorcese's narration is smart and so loving that from anyone else you would think it pitiful. But in this situation, it's inspiring and just great storytelling.

In the beginning and end of Mi Viaggio Di Italia (My Voyage to Italy), legend Martin Scorsese explains, in good reason, that the way to get people more interested in film is to share personal experiences of viewing particular ones that had some kind of impact for a movie-goer's experience (much like a friend telling another that a new movie is out, go see it, it's good, etc). Scorsese used a similar approach to his first cinema lesson- A Personal Journey Through American Movies- and like that one, it's a long, detailed, and deeply felt documentary. Sometimes when he talks about these movies you can tell he's so passionate about them, and it's a good approach.

First, Scorsese gives the viewer a feel of how he saw so many of these films from Italy- how he could go from seeing a Roy Rogers western in the theater and come home to watch a Rossellini series or a De Sica feature on TV- then, he goes through a comprehensive tale of the progression of the neo-realist movement, also mentioning the silent film epics, the tragic/comedies of the 50's, and how it progressed into the "new-wave" of Antonionni and Fellini in the early 60's. Like 'Personal Journey', it's long, possibly longer than the previous, and might not be watchable in one sitting (it's a two parter as I remember it from seeing it broadcast on TV). But for the avid movie-goer, fan of neo-realism, or someone wanting to get a glimpse of a better, smarter world in cinema in these days of cineplex garbage, it's a lenghty treat. A+

I definitely enjoyed an evening watching Turner Classic Movies listening to Martin Scorsese discuss his appreciation and affection for many of the formative films of Italian cinema, particularly the neo-realism movement and the post-war works of Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini, Visconti and Antonioni. So personal is this documentary, that it was like spending an evening with a friend sharing a mutual interest; and for those with an interest in International cinema, this is a rare treat. My suggestion is to hunt down as many of these films as you can find on video, then view them on the biggest television you can find. Among the more obscure and brilliant works discussed are PAISAN, GERMANY-YEAR ZERO, OSSESSIONE, SENSO, L'ECLISSE and I VITELLONI; along with more popular masterpieces, OPEN CITY, BICYCLE THIEF, LA DOLCE VITA, EIGHT AND A HALF and L'AVVENTURA. Superb!

Instead of doing commentary on the DVDs of his favorite Italian films, which he probably could do better than anyone else alive, being a masterfully adept teacher as well as the greatest working American director, Scorsese has decided to make his own film about them so he could relate them to his own development as a director. He relates how in the late '40s and early '50s, early Neo-Realist masterworks such as "Paisa" were shown often on New York area TV because of the large Italian-American population there, and what an indelible mark they made on him, a kid used to escapist Hollywood films. The films Scorsese's talking about, of course, are those of Rossellini, De Sica, Fellini, Visconti, and Antonioni. He leaves out some of the lesser known master directors such as Valerio Zurlini and Francesco Rossi, but does drop in a fascinating little visit to the beautifully dreamlike and nearly forgotten films of Alessandro Blasetti (1860, Fabiola) in his discussion of the common elements, born of a 2000 year old tradition, of Italian-made fantasy films and neo-realist films, as opposed to most Hollywood films.

Scorsese's sense of humor and eye for bizarre detail and the hilariously nuanced absurdities of some of these films are in top form throughout, and it's quite obvious from the get-go that he knows these films like the back of his hand. He's so passionate about these films that often his voice falters a little as you can hear him audibly moved to the point of tears in the voice-over!

The films he goes into in considerable detail are "ROME, OPEN CITY," "PAISA," "GERMANY: YEAR ZERO," "STROMBOLI," "AMORE," "ST. FRANCIS OF THE FLOWERS," "EUROPA 51," "VOYAGE TO ITALY," "SHOESHINE," "BICYCLE THIEF," "GOLD OF NAPLES," "OSSESSIONE," "LA TERRA TREMA," "SENSO" (Scorsese uses a breathtakingly beautiful restored print when discussing this technicolor Visconti film), "I VITELLONI" (the direct inspiration for "Mean Streets," as well as George Lucas' "American Graffitti"), "LA DOLCE VITA," "L'AVVENTURA," "THE ECLIPSE," and then closes the nearly 4 and half hour discussion with a brilliantly wide-scoped dissection of his favorite Italian film: "8-1/2."

How does a filmmaker get out of being asked in every interview what films influence him? He makes a movie about them. Martin Scorsese's lengthy documentary, My Voyage to Italy has been making the rounds on film festival circuit since 1999. It is now available to the general public on two-disc DVD.

Scorsese says in the beginning of My Voyage to Italy that his film was made so that people, especially today's youth, can realize that not all great films are born deep in the heart of Hollywood, USA. Scorsese directs and narrates this documentary about the history of Italian cinema. My Voyage to Italy includes home video from Scorsese's childhood and footage from 24 movies made between 1914 and 1966. It is these films that inspired him to become one of America's most well known and beloved directors. Scorsese gives us plot points, character descriptions and even endings of each classic film, pointing out specific elements that make the movie great. He tells us the strengths and weaknesses of each film and what he got out of it. At one point, he even shows us the same scene twice so we can spot exactly what he wants us to see. And, although you know the ending of these films, you are somehow still compelled to go out and see them anyway. It is as if he is a close friend who is describing a movie he just saw and tells you to go see it. This is a person whose opinion you can have confidence in.

The films featured in My Voyage to Italy opened the door for today's writers and directors. In a time where free speech was only something the press could take advantage of, many of the films were considered scandalous and provoked boycotts and law suits in the US. Roberto Rossellini's film Il Miracolo (The Miracle) prompted a US court to rule that filmmakers are entitled to the same freedom of speech as the media. Where would modern cinema be without this landmark decision?

Scorsese's main influences were the films made during the Italian neo-realism movement. All of the films in the genre focused on the reality of World War II; the horrors and sacrifice, liberation and compassion; all of the emotions felt during that time are on the screen, giving the audience little-to-no optimism or silver-lining. Through these films, the viewer experiences the filmmaker's response to that moment in history. They were not about a hero or a villain, but about life during and after the most extensive and costly war in the history of the world. Through these movies, Scorsese was subjected to the true Italian life and culture he couldn't experience at home in New York.

My Voyage to Italy should be required viewing for people who want to pursue a career in film; it is like a four-hour advanced film class that is as interesting as it is entertaining. It is obvious to the viewer that the films Scorsese highlights are dear to his heart. Based on the films that he loves, you can clearly see their influence reflected in the darker movies he has directed. Films like Taxi Driver and Goodfellas came to life because of the old movies he watched on the tiny black-and-white TV in his childhood home.

Before watching My Voyage to Italy, I had never seen even a frame of a film by Rossellini or Federico Fellini. Now, I feel compelled to go out and study each one. That, I suppose, was Scorsese's intention all along.