THE LEGENDARY GIULIA

[As the day goes]

Showing as part of the Italian Film Festival


http://www.italianfilmfestival.com.au/films/the-legendary-giulia

based on the book Alfa Romeo 1300 and Other Miracles

[Barry Edmunds]

I'm not able to converse in Italian but this film looks like a must see. Anyone up for a group booking? Barry

[Paul Gulliver]

What time is it on at Balwyn on Thursday???.Their website is not very clear on Film festival times

[Paul Gulliver]

Well I did manage to sneak off to Balwyn last night to catch this film. Film reviews aren't normally my thing , so I'll put on my Margaret Pomeranz & David Stratton hat and here goes.

I think the short summary of this film is that it is that it is an Italian " Fawlty Towers" yarn with not one Basil Faulty , but three. The plot is based around three middle aged men who haven't been very successful in there lives  to date. They team up to buy an old farm with the view of turning it into a bed & breakfast / holiday farm. Along the way they pick up a few other characters and things are progressing well , that is until the local mafia turn up. The first visit from the mafia is from a  consigliere  driving a  Giulia 1300.
This is the seminal moment in the film . The Giulia has a stereo system in the car that is faulty, ( there's that word again). It has a mind of its own playing classical music very loudly at any time. Their response to this visit is to "punch the living suitcase " out of the consigliere and kidnap him, hiding him in the basement. After he is entombed in the basement they have to work out what to do with his giulia, so they decide to bury it in the front yard. Not sooner have they finished burying it and the stereo comes on. Classical music coming from the earth. You probably have to close your eyes to imagine all of  this, but stay with me.

Another visit from some young mafia soldiers  who are also kidnapped and hidden in the basement, and then another visit from the Don & his associates. Before you know it they have half the local mafia hidden in the basement. Meanwhile the bed & breakfast has started doing very well and crowds are flocking in marvelling at the classical music coming from the earth. Things heat up when the local police  turn up looking for the mafia.  Our three hero's realize things can't go on , so they dig up the giulia and escape.

Highly improbable plot but it did have some high spots. My wife laughed a lot more that me because she speaks Italian .I was flat out reading the sub titles.

This film is part of the Italian film festival that is on at the moment. The festival is sponsored by Lavazza so all the great coffee adds and other Italian adds before the film started was worth the price of admission.

All in all not a bad way to waste 2 hours of your life.

Gully 

[LukeC]

Lovely, quaint Italian film that my wife and I enjoyed very much last night at our favourite art house cinema.

Watching the credits after:

GIULIA

something in Italian:

Fiat Spa.

I will interpret that as that it was from the Museo Storico. Was a pre '1967 1300 TI.