Original title: Movie Channel has an appointment with the best movies (title)
“The Way They Smiled”: The Growth and Transformation of Two Brothers (Theme)
The 55th Venice Film Festival in 1998 was a splendid event. In the competition pool for the highest award, the Golden Lion, there were many excellent works, such as the French film “Autumn Story”, the Serbian film “Black Cat, White Cat”, the German film ” “Run Lola”, etc. Surprisingly, the Italian neo-realism drama “The Way They Smiled” finally defeated the above-mentioned opponents and stood out, winning the Golden Lion Award and the Best Cinematography Award at the current film festival.
The story background of “The Way They Smiled” took place in Italy from 1958 to 1964. During this period, the “Italian economic miracle” was remarkable, with Italy’s total industrial output growing at its fastest pace on record. But there were hidden worries behind the appearance of prosperity. At that time, Italy’s economic development was mainly concentrated in the northern region, while the agricultural-dominated south had almost no changes. This made the North-South polarization problem increasingly serious. Due to lack of income and job opportunities, farmers from southern Italy flocked to northern cities in large numbers. People who have never left the countryside for generations, are illiterate and can only speak dialects suddenly find themselves in a strange city. The sense of loss and disappointment in the social environment form a sharp contrast with the luxury of consumer culture.
Against this historical background, the film tells the story of a pair of Italian brothers who traveled from the impoverished island of Sicily in the south to Turin to make their way in the world. Their ups and downs of life are also a microcosm of the people at the bottom of Italian society.
The film’s director Gianni Amelio was born on January 20, 1945, in Catanzaro, a city in southern Italy. Amelio’s father abandoned his wife and children and went to Argentina when he was 15 years old. The lack of father’s love since childhood affected Amelio’s later film creation. Unfortunately, his mother and sister died young, and Amelio had to depend on his grandmother. He later studied philosophy at the University of Messina in Sicily, and soon became interested in film and moved to Rome, where he started as an assistant director and gradually approached his film dream.
In 1982, Amelio directed the movie “The Couple”, which made him famous. It tells the story of how the conflict between a father and his son escalated during an assault case. His movies are always filled with relationships between fathers and friends. In “The Way They Smiled”, Italian actor Loviso, who plays the brother, can be said to have been discovered and supported by Amelio. Including this film, the two have collaborated three times. Amelio once said of Loviso, saying that whether he is playing a policeman or an opportunist, he can accurately grasp the characteristics of the character.
In the film, there is not only the small love between brothers to protect each other, but also the director’s great love for his hometown. Let us embark on the path of love and watch “The Way They Smile” together. (Liu Yanling)
