''Sicilia!'' () is a 1998

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

black-and-white film directed by Danièle Huillet and

Jean-Marie Straub Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult expert, and graduate in criminal law * Jean-Marie C ...

. ''Sicilia!'' follows a man returning to visit his native

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, after living in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

for many years. The film is an adaptation of

Elio Vittorini Elio Vittorini (; 23 July 1908 – 12 February 1966) was an Italian writer and novelist. He was a contemporary of Cesare Pavese and an influential voice in the modernist school of novel writing. His best-known work is the anti-fascist novel ''Con ...

's anti-fascist novel ''

Conversations in Sicily ''Conversazione in Sicilia'' () is a novel by the Italian author Elio Vittorini. It originally appeared in serial form in the literary magazine ''Letteratura'' in 1938–1939, and was first published in book form under the title ''Nome e Lagrime'' ...

'', which was first published in 1941. Portuguese filmmaker

Pedro Costa Pedro Costa (born 30 December 1958) is a Portuguese film director. He is best known for his sequence of films set in Lisbon, which focuses on the lives of the impoverished residents of a slum in the Fontainhas neighbourhood. Biography After com ...

's documentary on Straub and Huillet, ''Où gît votre sourire enfoui?'' (alternately translated into English as ''Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?'' or ''Where Lies Your Hidden Smile?''), was filmed while they were editing ''Sicilia!''. The film was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films ...

section at the

1999 Cannes Film Festival The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 1999. Canadian filmmaker, actor and author David Cronenberg was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the French– Belgian film ''Rosetta'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The festiv ...

. It was included in the 37th New York Film Festival.

Cast

* Gianni Buscarino as the son * Angela Nugara as the mother * Vittorio Vigneri as the knife-grinder * Carmelo Maddio as the orange-seller * Ignazio Trombello as policeman * Simone Nucatola as policeman *

Giovanni Interlandi Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

as the traveler * Mario Baschieri *

Giuseppe Bonta Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

Reception

In the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

’s 2012 ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' critics poll, ''Sicilia!'' received 7 votes and appeared at number 235.

References

External links

* 1999 films Italian black-and-white films 1990s Italian-language films Films set in Sicily Films directed by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet 1999 drama films Italian drama films 1990s Italian films {{1990s-Italy-film-stub