Books and Films about/set in Southern Italy
 

Hello all, Im planning a holiday to the south of Italy and hoping to start familiarising myself with the region by way of books and films (just something I do!). I am aware of Christ Stopped at Eboli by Carlo Levi and have seen reference to a film called Welcome to the South which was filmed in Cilento coast (where I will be staying). Of course there is the lovely Cinema Paradiso set in Sicily and Il Postine was filmed on the Aolean Islands.

Are there any other books, films, documentaries that people know of? Otherwise I will be forced to keep watching repeats of the episode of Two Greedy Italians where Genaro and Antonio visit the Amalfi Coast...

Non Ho Paura/I'm Not Scared (2003) was filmed in southern Italy. I am going to check for Welcome to the South on Netflix.

It is probably too early for DVD or whatever but A Bigger Splash which came out this year was filmed on Pantelleria Island, Sicily.

Wah, I wish I was in Italy right now.

You must watch The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) with Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon etc.

If you can understand Italian watch a recent comedy - Benvenuti al Sud.

Also I would suggest the magnificent food/art series - BBC Sicily Unpacked with Giorgio Locatelli and Andrew Graham-Dixon which is also on Youtube.

Together they have covered the whole of Italy including Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia.

If you're on Netflix, look for the movie "The Trip to Italy" (2014). Comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take a gastronomic excursion from Liguria to the AC and Capri. I enjoyed the scenery and the food, the guys not as much.

Bevenuti al sud is a copy of bienvenue chez les Chtis

Don Camillo - in black and white set in southern Italy are fabulous but do date ...

The best Italian movie I saw recently is la vita e Bella. But a difficult one mostly about concentration camps.

Whathello - Benvenuti al sud is still relevant to understand the South.

La Vita è Bella is not a recent movie, as I presume you know, and was filmed in part in Arezzo. Certainly not in the South.

Whathello: The Don Camillo movies are set in a village in the Po plain - which is defintely not part of the South.

Have you watched the Montalbano detective series filmed in Sicily near Ragusa?

I was thinking of "Non Ho Paura" too, and Montalbano of course.

Hello all, wow they are great suggestions, thank you.

I read The Leopard years ago for a book club, how could I have forgotten that one?! And I have been meaning to watch Moltalbano, I think I recorded a prequel called The Young Moltalbano but had to delete as not enough space on my Sky Plus (story of my life)

Nochblad - how have I missed Andrew Graham Dixon doing a programme on Italy??? They are my 2 greatest crushes - AGD and Italy...I love Caravaggio and love AGD's work on him x

The Trip to Italy I saw that actually, was very good, and Don Camillo sounds good.

Life is Beautiful, wow that makes me cry...at first I though I would be annoyed by Roberto Benigni but nope, he charmed me, and now I consider my husband to be somewhat lacking as he doesn't say 'Buongiorno Principessa' and play opera through the window to me... ;-) x

'Under the Tuscan Sun' has many scenes in Positano.

'The Talented Mr Ripley' was filmed on Procida and Ischia.

'Il Postino' was filmed on Marina Corricella on the island of Procida.

There are some great books about Naples - 'Only in Naples: Lessons in Food and Famiglia from my Italian Mother-in-Law' by Katherine Wilson is recently published and a delightful read. I'm just a tad miffed that the cover features a photo of Procida and not Naples.

'Naples Declared' by Benjamin Taylor is a thoughtful book by someone who clearly loves the city. The photo of Piazza Plebescito draped in Nazi flags in 1938 is chilling.

And of course the famous essay by John Steinbeck about Positano, written in 1953.

http://sirenuse.it/media/57085/Steinbeck.pdf

Just read Head over Heel by Chris Harrison, true story of an Australian falling in love with an girl from Southern Italy and moving there, funny interesting and an insight into life in a small village in Puglia. Lots of good information and makes me want to go there.

Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa by Matthew Fort. He starts in the south and works his way north.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...ating_Up_Italy

Ciao, Professore!: Taranto
Only You: Positano, Salerno
It Started in Naples: Napoli, Capri
The Godfather: Sicily
Malèna: Sicily
L'Avventura: Sicily
Respiro: Lampedusa
Stromboli: Stromboli island
Ben-Hur 2016: Basilicata
Quantum of Solace: Basilicata

I really enjoyed reading Seasons in Basilicata, by David Yeadon. Also, The Stone Boudoir by Theresa Maggio, although that takes place in central Sicily.

Check out the Inspector Montalbano series