Sicilia!

Sicilia!
Directed by	Danièle Huillet Jean-Marie Straub
Written by	Elio Vittorini
Starring	Gianni Buscarino
Cinematography	William Lubtchansky
Edited by	Danièle Huillet Jean-Marie Straub
Release date	1999 (1999)
Running time	66 minutes
Countries	Italy France Germany
Language	Italian

Sicilia! (Italian: [siˈtʃiːlja]) is a 1999 Italian black-and-white film directed by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub. Sicilia! follows a man returning to visit his native Sicily, after living in New York City for many years. The film is an adaptation of Elio Vittorini's anti-fascist novel Conversations in Sicily, which was first published in 1941.^[1]

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.^[2] It was included in the 37th New York Film Festival.^[3]

Cast

• Gianni Buscarino as the son
• Angela Nugara as the mother
• Vittorio Vigneri as the knife-grinder
• Carmelo Maddio as the orange-seller
• Ignazio Trombello as policeman
• Simone Nucatola as policeman
• Giovanni Interlandi as the traveler
• Mario Baschieri
• Giuseppe Bonta

Production

Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Costa's documentary on Straub and Huillet, Où gît votre sourire enfoui? (alternately translated into English as Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie? or Where Lies Your Hidden Smile?), was filmed while they were editing Sicilia!.^[4][5]

Reception

In the British Film Institute's 2012 Sight & Sound critics poll, Sicilia! received 7 votes and appeared at number 235.^[6]

References

1. "Sicilia!". Film at Lincoln Center. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
2. "Festival de Cannes: Sicilia!". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
3. Stephen Holden (25 September 1999). "'Sicilia!': Talking to Mother, and Other Totems". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
4. Brody, Richard. "Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
5. Knight, Ryland Walker (13 March 2008). "Pedro Costa at PFA: Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie? & Sicilia! w/ "6 Bagatelas"". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
6. "Votes for SICILIA! (1998)". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.

External links

• Sicilia! at IMDb