Kein gutes Haar lässt Anthony Kaufman in indiewire am italienischen Film der 90er Jahre (jedenfalls an dem, was die USA erreichte). Inzwischen sieht's wieder ein bisschen besser aus, meint er.

Blame Miramax, Giuseppe Tornatore, or the tourism industry for the mostly bland Italian cinema seen on U.S. screens in the 1990s. From "Cinema Paradiso" to "Il Postino," "Mediterraneo" to "Malena," Italian cinema has been synonymous with sun-dappled seas and young men ogling buxom beauties -- safe matinee fare catering to the graying baby-boomer specialized audience. In the last couple years, however, Italian cinema is looking less like a glossy travel brochure and more like a viable art-film industry.

Der Anlass ist eine New Yorker Serie, die neuere italienische Filme vorstellt. Einer davon hat es Kaufman ganz besonders angetan:

The unease of Italy's selfishness is more subtly and beautifully evoked in "The Miracle," a terse, captivating drama from Edoardo Winspeare ("Pizzicata"). After a 12-year-old boy survives a hit-and-run accident on his bicycle, he believes he may have special healing powers. Bathed in the golden light of southern Italy and the celestial highlights of Paolo Carnera's exquisite cinematography, "The Miracle" is far less spiritual than its title suggests, instead focusing on the down-to-earth, intimate transformations that take place between ordinary people. As the down-and-out father tries to sell his son's story to the media (echoing the desperate, exploitive Dad of "Caterina"), the boy develops a bond with the callous young woman who struck him.

[via Greencine]