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Product Description
Guiseppe Tornatore, the director of Cinema Paradiso, brings us BAARIA, an epic, semi-autobiographical story of three generations in a Sicilian village.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: Italian ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Behind the scenes, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Deleted Scenes, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Giuseppe Tornatore directed this grand-scale portrait of life and love over several decades in a small town in Sicily. The Torrenuovas are a family of peasant shepherds who have lived and worked in Bagheria though many generations. In the years before the rise of Mussolini, the family often found themselves working for Don Giacinto (Lollo Franco), a local tycoon who often used his power and position to take advantage of others. Young Peppino Torrenuova senses a profound injustice in the way Don Giacinto treats his elders, and as the years pass the young man becomes a passionate advocate for social change. Once he grows to be a man, Peppino (Francesco Scianna) falls in love with beautiful Mannina (Margareth Made) and they get married, starting a family of their own over the objections of Mannia's parents, who believe she can do better. As Peppino throws in his lot with the local Communist party and works to make life better for his fellow peasants, we see a number of important historical events through his eyes and watch the fortunes of his town and his family rise and fall. Featuring guest appearances by Monica Bellucci, Raoul Bova and Donatella Finocchiaro, Baaria was the opening night attraction at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Golden Globes, Venice Film Festival, ...Baarìa (2009) ( Sicilia! Sicilia! ) ( Baaria )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In a tiny Sicilian village called Baaria, the film follows three generations and 60 years from the 1920s through the 1980s. The main protagonist is Peppino (Francesco Scianna), the son of a shepherd, who becomes a committed communist during WWII. He falls in love with the lovely Mannina (Margareth Made) and they raise a family but his commitment to communism keeps him away for much of the time even as he slowly becomes disillusioned. I've never understood the great affection for director Giuseppe Tornatore's CINEMA PARADISO that most film lovers have but Tornatore's work here, though flawed, is both ambitious and beautiful. Though the film clocks in at 2 1/2 hours, the film seems choppy. Tornatore tries to cram too many stories, too many incidents and too many characters in the running time so that we never quite have the time get to know anybody but Peppino and his wife. Fortunately, the appealing Scianna and fetching Made hold our interest. The film needs a more leisurely pace. I suspect that a director's cut would run closer to 4 hours and I'd love to see that version. Visually, the film is stunning, Enrico Lucidi's wide screen images among the most beautiful I've ever seen and at times, it seems enough to just bask in those images. The ending is a real beauty. The gorgeous score is by Ennio Morricone. The massive cast includes Angela Molina and Monica Bellucci.
The e-one DVD from Great Britain is a top notch wide screen (2.35) transfer.
The e-one DVD from Great Britain is a top notch wide screen (2.35) transfer.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Beautifully filmed, a sheer visual delight, which is what you would expect from Tornatore. Everyone seeing Baaria will presumably have seen Cinema Paradiso first, which may induce misleading expectations. This is much more than the life story of one man, it is the story of the town as well, and of rural, small-town Sicily in the context of 20th century Italy as a whole. Peppino, the hero, is a much more human character than Salvatore (in Cinema Paradiso), because the life of Peppino and the life of the town are fleshed out in much greater detail - much more background incident, incidentally allowing a number of well-known Italian actors to take small parts. The final scenes create a nicely rounded ending. If I had to make a criticism, I would say that Tornatore tries to pack too much into 144 minutes; I would happily have sat through a more leisurely, longer version of the film, if only to protract the pleasure.
7 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have waited in anticipation for some time for this film to be released on DVD in English. Having watched Tornatore's Cinema Paradaiso, La Sconosciuta etc. he is without doubt one of the greta film makers of World Cinema.
Baaria is without doubt an epic film and the task to fit all that he was trying to say into one film was no doubt a daunting task. Having watched it through twice now, I love it but ultimately feel that it could have been longer. There is a feeling of trying to compress too much in and the film suffers for its brevity.
I wonder whether in time to come there will be a Directors Cut as there was with Cinema Paradaiso where he can show the full story as he might have wanted to.
I would recommend this film.
Baaria is without doubt an epic film and the task to fit all that he was trying to say into one film was no doubt a daunting task. Having watched it through twice now, I love it but ultimately feel that it could have been longer. There is a feeling of trying to compress too much in and the film suffers for its brevity.
I wonder whether in time to come there will be a Directors Cut as there was with Cinema Paradaiso where he can show the full story as he might have wanted to.
I would recommend this film.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Long winded
The best thing about this movie is the magnificant scenery set in an unusual looking Sicilian town. The plot of the movie is a bit long winded and got rather boring, which is... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Albert_B
Pretty But Pointless.
Giuseppe Tornatore seems to have taken a leaf out of Frederico Fellini by making an autobiographical film about life in the town of his birth. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Bob Salter
Interesting if you can understand it - Arty Italian Film.
Bought this due to reviews on the French Amazon site and also enjoyed the directors previous film. It is very difficult to follow as they have packed a lot in, I think i need to... Read more
Published 15 months ago by M. Wilkinson
Disappointing.
After waiting so long for this film to arrive,I am very disappointed.There must be a lot more we haven`t seen. Read more
Published 15 months ago by old groaner
Another great film from Torantore.
Another huge success from the director of Oscar-winning Nuovo Cinema Paradiso. Tornatore does not fail to deliver a deeply emotional story from Sicily set in his home town of... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Court - Thomas
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