Lamerica
by Gianni Amelio
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Carmelo Di Mazzarelli, Elida Janushi, Enrico Lo Verso, Michele Placido, Piro MilkaniDirector: Gianni Amelio
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 116 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: New Yorker Video
Movie Reviews of Lamerica
Movie Review: Been There
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always been facinated with the country of Albania. When I was growing up, it was a sort of secret closed society under the tight control of its' Stalinist dictator Hoxha. Very little news ever seeped out during the 60's and 70's or years before or after. It's one thing for a Asian country like North Korea or a South American country like Paraguay to hide from the rest of the world but Albania is a European country. Around 1990 or so, Albania's totalitarian government fell apart and a reign of anarchy seemed to emerge. Stories of an economy built on Ponzi schemes just added to the mistique of that alien country. It is into that period that "Lamerica" takes us.
We begin by following the escapades of two hot shot Italian schemers as they set out to make a few dishonest lyre. For awhile, I had no real idea as to where this movie was going but I kept following along until I realized that I had been drawn into the chaos. The last third or fourth of the movie was a near-mesmerizing experience. I came away moved by the sense that I had at least an uncomfortable concept of what helplessness felt like. It was only as I sat watching the closing cast and credits that I realized just how powerful a movie "Lamerica" is.
"Lamerica" is not an action film nor even a standard drama. It is, however, an experience.
Summary of Lamerica
Upstaging the neorealist masterworks of Rossellini and Bertolucci, Gianni Amelio's Lamerica triumphs. A visually arresting tale of moral conflict and the journey that leads to atonement, Lamerica has been hailed by critics everywhere as one of the best films of this past decade.After nearly half a century of communist rule, a poverty stricken Albania falls subject to the invasion of two exploitive capitalists looking to prosper within the changing economy. As Albania's people try desperately to flee destitution, Gino (Enrico Lo Verso) and Fiore arrive from Italy with plans to use a makeshift manufacturing plant to front their next scam. Forced to name an Albanian citizen as their company's acting "chairman," Gino and Fiore turn to Spiro-a prisoner of war for over fifty years, Spiro emerges as the perfect pawn. However, when Spiro suddenly disappears, Gino finds himself on a journey that will ultimately reshape the integrity of his soul. Beautifully photographed in Cinemascope, Lamerica has garnered director Gianni Amelio (Stolen Children and Open Doors) with a record third consecutive Felix Award for Best European Film.
Albania, 1991. After weathering a pre-World War?II bout of Italian fascism and decades of communism (sketched out with newsreel footage in the film's opening moments), Albania has thrown off the shackles of totalitarianism and reveals to the world an economically devastated country...just ripe for the picking. As hordes of refugees stream out of Albania to Italy, a pair of Italian con men arrive with promises of industry and jobs. They select an addled former political prisoner (Carmelo di?Mazzarelli) to front the company as the Albanian "chairman," and get ready to siphon off government development money and split--until their front suddenly wanders off and junior partner Gino (Enrico Lo?Verso) sets off to find him. Systematically fleeced of his valuables and his identity by the very people he was out to bilk, the brash, flashy Italian is soon just another refugee struggling to sneak back past the borders of his own home. Shot entirely in Albania with a largely nonprofessional cast by Gianni Amelio (Stolen Children, also starring Lo?Verso), a documentary immediacy fills the film with a harsh beauty, and it serves as a shocking revelation of a country so long cut off from the rest of the world. Amelio resists opportunities for sentimentalizing the desperate poor in his neorealist odyssey, but suggests hope in the periodic acts of kindness they bestow upon Gino. Though he is hardly a likable character, the haunted look in Gino's eyes by the end of his journey suggests a hard education that's likely to remain with him. And with?us. --Sean Axmaker
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