''The First Beautiful Thing'' ( it, La prima cosa bella) is a 2010 Italian drama film directed by
Paolo Virzì, produced by Medusa Film, Motorino Amaranto and Indiana Production, released in Italy on 15 January 2010. The film stars Micaela Ramazzotti, Valerio Mastandrea, Claudia Pandolfi and Stefania Sandrelli. On 9 November 2010 the film opened at the Cinema Italian style Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Plot
The film tells the story of the Michelucci family, from the 1970s to the present day: the central character is the stunningly beautiful Anna, the lively, frivolous and sometimes embarrassing mother of Bruno and Valeria. Everything begins in the Summer of 1971, at the annual Summer beauty pageant held at Livorno’s most popular bathing establishment. Anna is unexpectedly crowned “Most Beautiful Mother”, unwittingly stirring the violent jealousy of her husband, a
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...
of
Carabinieri. From then on, chaos strikes the family and for Anna, Bruno and his sister Valeria, it is the start of an adventure that will only end thirty years later. The whole movie is set when Bruno, a high school teacher who ended up living in
Milan after managing to escape from Livorno and his mother, returns to his hometown to be at his mother’s side during her very last days, remembering many of the key episodes of his family life through a long series of
flashbacks.
Cast
*
Valerio Mastandrea as Bruno Michelucci
*
Micaela Ramazzotti
Micaela Ramazzotti (born 17 January 1979) is an Italian actress.
Her film credits include ''Non prendere impegni stasera'', '' The First Beautiful Thing'' and '' The Big Heart of the Girls''. Ramazzotti was a regular cast member of the show '' C ...
as Anna Nigiotti in Michelucci - 1971-1981
*
Stefania Sandrelli as Anna Nigiotti in Michelucci - 2008
*
Claudia Pandolfi as Valeria Michelucci
*
Marco Messeri as Il Nesi
*
Fabrizia Sacchi
Fabrizia Sacchi (born 10 February 1971) is an Italian actress.
Sacchi was born in Naples. Her acting credits include '' Viaggio sola'', '' Fuoriclasse'', ''Medicina generale'' and ''The First Beautiful Thing''. In 2013 she was nominated to Dav ...
as Sandra
*
Aurora Frasca as Valeria Michelucci - child
*
Giacomo Bibbiani Giacomo is an Italian name. It is the Italian version of the Hebrew name Jacob.
People
* Giacomo (name), including a list of people with the name
Other uses
* Giacomo (horse), a race horse, winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby
* ''Giácomo'' (film) ...
as Bruno Michelucci - child
*
Giulia Burgalassi as Valeria Michelucci - teenager
*
Francesco Rapalino
Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include:
People with the given name Francesco
* Francesco I (disambiguation), sever ...
as Bruno - teenager
*
Sergio Albelli
Sergio may refer to:
* Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio
* Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found
* ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass
* ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film
* ''Se ...
as Mario Michelucci
*
Isabella Cecchi
Isabella may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Isabella (surname), including a list of people
Places
United States
* Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpora ...
as Zia Leda Nigiotti
*
Emanuele Barresi
Emanuele is the Italian form of Manuel. People with the name include:
* Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia (1915–1944), Italian aviator
* Emanuele Basile (1949–1980), captain of Carabinieri
* Emanuele Belardi (born 1977), Italian football player
* Ema ...
as Roberto Lenzi
*
Dario Ballantini
Dario is a masculine given name, etymologically related to Darius.
Given name
*Dario Allevi (born 1965), Italian politician
*Dario Argento (born 1940), Italian film director
*Dario Badinelli (born 1946), Italian triple jumper
*Dario Bellezza (19 ...
as Avvocato Cenerini
*
Paolo Ruffini as Cristiano Cenerini
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for 18
David di Donatello
The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award cat ...
Awards, and won Best Screenplay (
Paolo Virzì,
Francesco Bruni,
Francesco Piccolo
Francesco Piccolo (born 1964) is an Italian author of novels, short stories and screen plays. In 2014, he won Italy's leading literary award the Premio Strega for ''Il desiderio di essere come tutti''.
Life and career
Piccolo was born at Casert ...
), Best Actress
Micaela Ramazzotti
Micaela Ramazzotti (born 17 January 1979) is an Italian actress.
Her film credits include ''Non prendere impegni stasera'', '' The First Beautiful Thing'' and '' The Big Heart of the Girls''. Ramazzotti was a regular cast member of the show '' C ...
Best Actor
Valerio Mastandrea. 4
Silver Ribbon, Director of the best film
Paolo Virzì, Best screenplay, Best Actress
Stefania Sandrelli and
Micaela Ramazzotti
Micaela Ramazzotti (born 17 January 1979) is an Italian actress.
Her film credits include ''Non prendere impegni stasera'', '' The First Beautiful Thing'' and '' The Big Heart of the Girls''. Ramazzotti was a regular cast member of the show '' C ...
, Best Costume
Gabriella Pescucci. The film was nominated for the
European Film Award for Best Director.
It was selected as the Italian entry for the
Best Foreign Language Film at the
83rd Academy Awards
The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beg ...
,
but it didn't make the final shortlist.
In July 2010, ''La prima cosa bella'' (The first beautiful Thing) won four Silver Ribbon awards: Director of the Best Film of the Year (Paolo Virzi), Best Actress Micaela Ramazzotti and Stefania Sandrelli, Best Screenplay Paolo Virzi, Francesco Bruni, Francesco Piccolo) and Best Costume Design to the Oscar winner Gabriella Pescucci. The film was screened at some international film festivals including the Open Roads, New York, the Shanghai International Film Festival, the Annecy Cinéma Italien Film Festival and the NICE Italian Film Festival, San Francisco.
See also
*
*
List of Italian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Beautiful Thing
2010 films
2010 comedy-drama films
Films directed by Paolo Virzì
Italian comedy-drama films
2010s Italian-language films
Films about dysfunctional families
Films set in Livorno