Ciao a tutti!
I write the blog Liconoscevobene.net,* which consists of cineracconti (photo-stories) about classic Italian movies, some famous, some obscure. I started the blog out of a passion for those movies and for the Italian language, as a way to share them with other Italian language students. Using the skills I learned in working on my Masters degree and in many years of Teaching English as a Second Language, I tailor the writing to students’ needs.
The cineracconti are published in serial format. Each puntata (installment) is about 600 English words – about half the length of this post – or ten minutes of film. The blog aims to be a fun and useful tool for Italian language students, especially those who love movies. The puntate published after September 2001 have the Italian and English side by side; prior to that there is a separate PDF document with the English translation.
Why classic Italian movies?
What is it about Italian movies that sets my heart on fire? My favorites – La ciociara, I compagni, Le notti di Cabiria, Le quattro giornate di Napoli, La ragazza in vetrina, Mafioso, Risate di gioia – have an earthy quality; they seem real. The people onscreen – not only the leads but the supporting cast, even characters who appear for a moment at most – have the lessons of experience written into their bodies, their faces, the way they move.
Il cammino della speranza – Neorealist films feature nonprofessional actors and faces etched with character.
These films address social issues, but with humor and good spirits: not from above, as a dispassionate observer, but from ground level.
I have other favorites that do something a little different. For example, Ossessione seems, on the surface, to be a noir melodrama but, as we look deeper, we see the roots of neorealism and a powerful anti-fascist message.
Ossessione – In this story of adultery and murder, director Luchino Visconti fashions an implicitly antifascist film, showing Italians who do not conform to the cultural ideal of virility and referencing homosexuality.
Likewise, Rocco e i suoi fratelli paints a dark vision of hard-scrabble life in southern Italy and also for those who escape to northern cities during the country’s supposed postwar economic boom.
Rocco e i suoi fratelli – Rocco’s mother tells of the hardship of life in the South.
How we write our photo-stories
Here’s how we write the cineracconti.
1. I go through the movie, frame by frame, writing dialogue, scene descriptions, and cultural and historical notes in English. The notes provide information that enriches our understanding of the film: for example, about the postwar economic boom and north-south relations.
The text in our cineracconto provides a translation of the song lyrics: “You can explain it this way, or explain it that way. Call him Ciccio or Antonio, Peppe or Ciro. He’s still a little black child! Black like who knows what!” Here’s our note: “Black Tambourine Song,” by E. A. Mario and Edoardo Nicolardi, refers to the children of Neapolitan women and Black GIs who met during the Second World War. The new mothers gave typical Neapolitan names to the babies – fooling no one.
Because we are not confined to the tight space available for subtitles, we transcribe pretty much the entire dialogue. Readers can watch the film while following along with the cineracconto as a language practice and gaining background information to better understand the story.
Mafioso – What the Italian says is “È ancora più stupida di Giufà.” The subtitle is an incorrect translation. As we explain in a footnote, Giufà is a folklore character based on Middle Eastern tradition, from the time of the Moors’ domination in Sicily and southern Italy. Though he is often thought of as the village fool, Giufà’s stories carry moral messages.
2. I go through the film again, making detailed screenshots. I take care to find images that match what I’ve written, so as to create a useful language-learning tool. I often include notes about the cinematography, which is an important aspect of the film. Comments on striking individual shots draw the reader’s attention to how the director uses photography in service of the story. Comments also highlight other choices made by the director to convey the film’s themes: casting, scene setting, set dressing, etc.
Ossessione – Anita may be a prostitute, but she’s seated like a prim young lady. By contrast, when Gino first sees Giovanna, her pose is much more casual, her legs swinging freely.
3. I translate the installment into Italian. Here I often face dilemmas about word choices, which will be part of my later discussion with the editor. Remember, I’m an Italian language student myself!
4. My editor, Italian television journalist Alberto Maio, reviews the Italian version, making corrections and offering suggestions. Then we talk things over: would changing a particular word or structure make the text more accessible or useful to language learners?
5. The last step is a multi-stage review process. Alberto and I each go over the corrected versions again; then I review them orally with my teacher, Michela Badii; and finally our proofreader Lucrezia Grussani reads the text with a practiced eye. It’s essential to make sure there are no mistakes, since students count on correct information.
But our discussion also addresses competing potential translations, what we should translate from dialect, what old-fashioned or regional word or dialect we should maintain because it is perfect for the context, etc. Our conversations are engaging and stimulating for me as a student of Italian.
As a language learner, you can use the blog to read about a movie before or after you watch it. To develop your skills, you can block out the English or Italian side of the screen** and try your hand at translating it. If you have friends or classmates, you can compare translations and, of course, discuss the content of the film itself. In translation, there is rarely a single correct version; there are competing options.
To receive a weekly email with a link to the latest installment, click here.
By the way, we’d love to hear your thoughts about any of our translations and our cineracconti. You can email me if you have ideas, please pass them on!
Un saluto!
Judy
* Li conoscevo bene is a play on the film title La conoscevo bene (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1965). I chose this name for the blog because I write about films that I know well.
** We’ve recently made one cineracconto, Miracolo in Milano, available in PDF format.
We love this blog because… it combines language and culture in a deep, thoughtful way, and is the result of painstaking work and attention to detail – something we don’t see very often. Complimenti a Judy e ai collaboratori del blog!
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