Killers of the Flower Moon vs. Cè Ancora Domani

My Recent Film Review

Film 1 - Killers of the Flower Moon

I must confess that I haven't been to the movies in ages, and the only films I've even bothered to watch have been on the rare occasions when I've been on a plane. For example, recently, on a flight from Los Angeles to Rome, I watched the endless "Killers of the Flower Moon," a film I had eagerly anticipated seeing.

However, given that I was already weary at the time of viewing this film, coupled with the depressing subject matter, unattractive characters, and extraordinary length of the film, it conspired to make the vision of Martin Scorsese's epic far more of an ordeal than something I might have otherwise enjoyed.

This film felt endless, the characters didn't appeal to me, the story was bleak, and none of the characters had any redeeming qualities. I give it a hard pass.

Film 2 - Cè Ancora Domani

After enduring the entire flick without giving up, I watched a surprisingly good film, "Cè Ancora Domani" 2023 (There is Still Tomorrow). Winner of numerous awards, which was also the Italian entry for the 2024 Oscars, it was a charming, poignant dark comedy, shot mostly in stylish black and white, spoofing the Neo-Realism of films like Roberto Rossellini's "Rome Open City."

Paola Cortellesi directs this unexpected masterpiece, set in 1946 in a poor quarter of Rome still occupied by American troops. It stars Delia, a hard-working mother of three who earns a paltry living by taking on several arduous jobs in addition to her housewife chores and endures cruel brutality at every turn from her abusive husband and her bedridden father-in-law.

In the very first scene, Delia awakens and greets her husband, who replies to her greeting with a startlingly vicious slap. Nevertheless, she never blames him, but excuses him because he has lived through two world wars.

However, when a suspiciously unexpected letter arrives whose exact contents remain somewhat of a mystery, we observe that Delia, whose initial reaction was to throw it away, retrieves it, hides it, and begins little by little to dream of leaving the drudgery of her hopeless life behind and contemplating a utopian escape to Switzerland with an ex-boyfriend.

In the interim, Delia is hoping that her pretty eldest daughter will marry her rich young suitor and have a much better life, but soon she discovers, much to her consternation, that her future son-in-law makes no secret of the fact that as soon as he marries her daughter, he will treat his wife as a chattel.

Delia, with the complicity of an African American MP who has fallen for her, takes extraordinary measures to avert her daughter’s fate. The film's many engaging and always riveting twists and turns end with Delia defying her husband by going to vote for the very first time since Italy granted voting rights to women in 1946.

"Cè Ancora Domani" is startling and quite at odds with the kind of films that are made today. Featuring relationships where women were treated in a very subservient manner accurately reflects the era in which I grew up. The characters played are true to life at the time, and the film is filled with humor and sarcasm.

To me, it was very touching, and I have greatly enjoyed this wonderfully refreshing film. I highly recommend it!