Tornatore's Latest Comes to Sentieri

Tornatore at the Nastro d'Argento awards

Giuseppe Tornatore, acclaimed director of the Italian classic Cinema Paradiso, returns to the big screen with his new film (and his only to operate entirely in English) La Migliore Offerta. Despite opening to mixed reviews here in the States, the film has been received warmly in Italy, taking home numerous prizes at the Nastro d'Argento and David di Donatello awards, including the Donatello award for Best Film.

La Migliore Offerta will be screened at Sentieri on Saturday, February 22nd. Come join the discussion and let us know what you think!

You can find more info about the event here.  

Gisella

Sentieri Blog Contributor

Cineforum: La Migliore Offerta

La Migliore Offerta

Virgil Oldman is the managing director of an auction house, who is hired by a reclusive young heiress, Claire Ibbetson, to auction off a large collection of art and antiques which had been left to her by her parents. Virgil is intrigued by this mysterious woman, and in the process of restoring some antiques receives advice from his friend about how to deal with his growing feelings towards her.

View the trailer here.

After the viewing there will be a light reception for a discussion of the film. The film is in English with Italian subtitles.

Saturday, February 22^nd 4:00-7:00pm

$10 - member discount

$15 - general admission

by 2/20/14

or $20 at the door, last minute seating, cash only

Send or Hand Deliver payment to Sentieri Italiani (Event location)

5430 N. Broadway St. Chicago, IL 60640

Call or Email with inquiries 773-275-5325 enrico@sentieri.com

The Great Beauty screening, January 25

On Saturday, January 25, a group of about 20 gathered at Sentieri to watch and discuss Paolo Sorrentino's latest effort, The Great Beauty.

The film is a character study with two protagonists— Jep Gambardella and the city that he inhabits, Rome. Jep is a writer who doesn't write, an underwhelmed intellectual, an aging socialite doing his best to remain young and important. He's a cynic, shallow and decadent much like the city in which he finds himself, a city that multiple characters try to leave throughout the film.

During a post-movie aperitivo, Daniela, Sentieri's President, brought up the point that in Fellini's La Dolce Vita there was hope in the end, but in The Great Beauty there seems to be none. This led to a heated discussion about the realities of life in post-Berlusconi Italy, Italian cynicism, and comparisons between American and Italian mentalities.

What about you? Have you seen the film yet? What did you think? Leave your thoughts below!

Gisella
Sentieri Blog Contributor

Italian Word of 2013: Crisi

As we move on into the New Year, many of us have been left reflecting on the old one. We've read dozens of articles and blog posts, recounting the best and worst of 2013, the most memorable events, the lessons learned.

Of course, one way to reflect on the most relevant issues of the past year is to look at how language was used. In America, it was selfie  that was named the word of 2013. In Italy, though, crisi.

In a survey conducted by La Repubblica, readers voted this word as the most representative of 2013.

And it's true that in Italy, there have been a number of recent crises. There's the recession and the financial crisis. There's the work crisis (in Bologna, in only five years, unemployment has increased over 120%). There's the political crisis (Berlusconi, anyone?), the health crisis (many families go without health services), the social crisis (the growing disparity between the North and the South, the rich and the poor), and the crisis of values (the continuation of hatespeech and various other atrocities perpetuated on the internet).

La Repubblica  calls 2013 un anno da dimenticare ("a year to forget"). Here's to hoping that 2014 is better.

For those who read Italian, the full article is here.

Gisella
Sentieri Blog Contributor

Spring 2014 - Italian Class Schedule

SPRING QUARTER

March 31^st to June 7^th, 2014

CLASS DURATION: 10 WEEKS

BASIC 1
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm



BASIC 2
Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm



BASIC 3
Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm



INTERMEDIATE 1
Saturdays, 10:30am–12:30pm



INTERMEDIATE 2
Saturdays, 10:30am–12:30pm



ADVANCED
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm



CONVERSATION 1
Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm



CONVERSATION 2
Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm



CONVERSATION 3
Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm



CONVERSATION 4
Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm



BOOK CLUB
(intermedio/avanzato)
Fridays, 10:00am–12:00pm

Course Fees (min. 8 students per class)

Early Registration (by February 15^th)
Cash/check/paypal: $290.00
Standard Registration (after February 15^th)
Cash/check/paypal: $310.00


+Materials not included. If required for your course, material prices will be sent with your course confirmation and will be payable at the first class.

Send registration and payment to:

SENTIERI INC., 5430 N. Broadway St. Chicago, IL 60640

La Grande Bellezza triumphs at the Golden Globes

On Sunday night, director Paolo Sorrentino took home the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film for La Grande Bellezza, beating out critic favorite Blue Is the Warmest Color. 

Sorrentino on the set of La Grande Bellezza

The last Italian film to be awarded the prize was Giuseppe Tornatore's Nuova Cinema Paradiso, in 1989. 

La Grande Bellezza is perhaps best summed up in a single scene, when protagonist Jep Gambardella looks out over the hulking corpse of the Costa Concordia cruise ship. It's a striking metaphor for both Gambardella's character and the country in which he lives- both stuck, both dormant. 

What happened here? How did this country- with its natural beauty and infinite cultural treasures- reach the stagnancy in which it now finds itself? This is the difficult question that Sorrentino poses in his film.

Sentieri will be screening La Grande Bellezza on Saturday, January 25. For those interested, more information can be found here.

Additionally, the first six participants to sign up for the screening will be given a ticket to Giuseppe Tornatore's The Best Offer running at the Gene Siskel Film Center from January 17-30. More information about the film can be found here.

See you at the screening!

Gisella

Sentieri Blog Contributor

Italian cinema in Chicago: "The Best Offer"

 The Best Offer (La migliore offerta)

 

Dominating Italy’s Oscar-equivalent Donatello Awards with six wins including Best Picture and Best Director, THE BEST OFFER has been hailed as Tornatore’s best film since CINEMA PARADISO.

The film is built around a powerful performance by Geoffrey Rush as a fastidious art auctioneer who prefers to keep life and love at an aesthetic distance. Then he falls under the spell of a beautiful recluse (Sylvia Hoeks) confined by agoraphobia to her musty mansion.  By coaxing her out of her self-imposed prison, he might free himself from his own--but can emotions, like works of art, be forged?
The film’s amenities include a lush score by Ennio Morricone, an antique automaton that tops the one in HUGO, and memorable supporting performances by Donald Sutherland as the protagonist’s shady accomplice and Kurina Stamell as a dwarf whose photographic memory carries a crucial plot twist.  

In English.  DCP digital. View trailer here.

TWO-WEEK RUN!

January 17--23
Fri. at 6:00 pm 

Sat. at 5:15 pm and 7:45 pm
Sun. at 3:00 pm
Mon. at 8:00 pm

Tues. at 6:00 pm

Wed. at 8:00 pm

Thu. at 6:00 pm

January 24--30
Fri. at 7:45 pm;
Sat. at 3:00 pm, 5:30 pm, and 8:00 pm;
Sun. at 4:45 pm;
Tue. at 6:00 pm  

Wed. at 7:45 pm  

Thu. at 6:00 pm

  

Special Discount tickets available for Friends of Sentieri: $7.00 for individual tickets (a savings of $4.00/ticket) when purchased in person at the Gene Siskel Film Center Box Office. Use discount code: ITALY

Additionally, the first six people to sign up for Sentieri's Cineforum "La grande bellezza" will win a FREE ticket to "The Best Offer".

  

Gene Siskel Film Center 

164 N. State Street

312-846-2800

  

www.siskelfilmcenter.org

 

http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/best-offer

Cineforum: La grande bellezza

La Grande Bellezza

Journalist Jep Gambardella has been a permanent fixture to Rome's literary and social circles for many years. But as his sixty-fifth birthday passes, Jep finds himself looking past his extravagant life of nightclubs and parties and he begins to see Rome in a new light. Winner of the Golden Globe for best foreign film and candidate in the same category for the Oscars. View trailer here.

After the viewing there will be a light reception for a discussion of the film. The film is in Italian with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 25^th

4:00 – 7:00pm

$10 - member discount

$15 - general admission

by 1/23/2014

or $20 at the door, last minute seating

Cash Only

Call or Email

773-275-5325

enrico@sentieri.com

Sentieri Italiani

5430 N. Broadway Ave

Chicago, IL 60640

Amara Lakhous and a Clash of Civilizations

January 26 marks the beginning of Sentieri's Winter Book Club, the theme of which is the immigrant experience in Italy. The book is Scontro di civilità per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio, the author Amara Lahkous.

Published in 2006, this satire takes place in the most diverse neighborhood in Rome. Eleven different perspectives on life in Piazza Vittorio, all centering around the mysterious "Amedeo," a beloved figure but also the prime suspect of a murder that occurred in the elevator of the building where they all live. Few of the characters are Italian (even fewer are Roman) and the apartment building soon becomes a microcosm of the ever-growing multicultural capitale. Delightful in its ability to entertain, this story combines tragedy and comedy, humor and serious criticism.

Lakhous himself knows a thing or two about Piazza Vittorio. Originally from Algiers, he moved to Rome in 1995 after receiving numerous death threats for his work as a radio journalist. Before writing Scontro di civiltà, he worked in Piazza Vittorio as a cultural mediator in a city-run home for new immigrants.

If you're interested in reading this fascinating book, there's still time to register. Registration and a payment of $150 (materials not included) are due by January 18.

The course will be meeting on four Sundays– January 26, February 9, February 23, and March 9– from 2 to 4pm.

-Gisella

Sentieri Blog Contributor

Winter 2014 Italian Book Club :

Letteratura dell'immigrazione in Italia

Led by Daniela Cavallero

“Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a piazza Vittorio”,

by Amara Lakhous

Join Sentieri in a Sunday afternoon discussion group that will explore this remarkable novel suitable for intermediate and advanced Italian students.

Winter 2014's book is a compelling mix of social satire and murder mystery. A small culturally mixed community living in an apartment building in the center of Rome is thrown into disarray when one of the neighbors is murdered.

Meets Sundays, from 2-4pm, January 26th, February 9^th and 23rd, and March 9th
Registration and payment in hand by 1/18/2014.
Cash/check: $ 150.00
+ Materials not included, to be ordered independently
+ Membership discount does not apply.

+ $15 surcharge for payment by Visa or Mastercard.

Interpreting and Translation

Interpreting and Translation Services

English and Italian

Services for general language and specific language including commercial language, business language and legal language.

·        General Language Interpreting for 1–5 people:

$80.00 per hour*

·        General Language Interpreting for 6-10 people:

$100.00 per hour*

·        Specific Language Interpreting : $150.00 per hour*

·        Customized General Language Interpreting for 10 or more people.

*Minimum of 3 hours.

·        General Language Translations: ¢20 per word

·        Specific Language Translations: ¢25 per word

·        Italian Citizenship Document Translations: $50.00 per page

Past and Present Clients:

·       C.A. Studio Nervi, Torino, Italy

·       Chicago Symphony Orchestra

·       Prudential Relocation, USA

·       Inlingua Cross-Cultural Services, USA

·       Cendant Cross-Cultural Services, USA

·       McDonalds Co., USA

·       Whirlpool Co., USA

·       NTC, USA

·       Rand McNally, USA

Eataly Opens Tomorrow!

A great week for Chicago Italian-food enthusiasts.

Italian food emporium Eataly opens tomorrow, December 2nd, at 4 p.m. at 43 E. Ohio Avenue. The two-story megastore will host eight restaurants, two coffee bars, a microbrewery, a gelateria, a bookstore, and retail stands that sell produce, fish, meat, cheese, pastries, and salumi. And it would be remiss of us not to mention the Nutella stand.

Now, who's excited?


Gisella
Sentieri Blog Contributor

Skip the Black Friday Crowds & Give the Gift of Language

This year, instead of fighting the Black Friday crowds to do your shopping, curl up with a glass ofvino and give your favorite Italophile a gift certificate at Sentieri Italiani.  

Certificates can be purchased in any amount and used for language classes, private Skype lessons, movie nights and cultural tours. 

We will print out the certificate and send it to you or to the recipient - your choice! 

To purchase by check or over the phone, call Enrico at 773-275-5325 or email at enrico@sentieri.com  

Different Languages, Different Personalities

It's not a new debate, though it still comes up quite frequently among linguists and language teachers. This recent article in The Economist poses the question yet again. Does each language encode a specific worldview that influences the way in which its speakers communicate? The obvious answer seems to be a resounding yes, but what of bilinguals? Or second language learners? Do languages rather than emotions shape thought?

The article posits that a single person's personality and behavior can drastically change from language to language for a variety of reasons. Of course, there's language ability and comfort level as well as emotions associated with a language. If a particular language reminds someone of friends or home, surely they behave differently than in the language that represents work or studies. But perhaps there are certain inherent properties in languages that cause their speakers to behave in certain way? Is it possible that grammar and syntax can push us to think differently?

The article offers some examples of this, but no concrete proof. For example, a language like Greek, in which the verb comes first and is loaded with information based on its conjugation, might allow for its speakers to interrupt more easily than in a language where the verb comes at the end of the sentence.

So, I pose the question to you- Do you notice a change in personality when you speak Italian? Why do you think this is?

Gisella
Sentieri Blog Contributor

Sentieri Event: Festa di Natale

Festa di Natale – Sentieri's Holiday Party

Sunday, December 8^th

5:00 – 8:00 pm

at the California Clipper

  Magic Show!      DJ!      Snacks!      Cash Bar!      Raffle!

Celebrate the holidays and another year with your favorite Italian speakers! Join the students, teachers and

friends of Sentieri as we celebrate Natale. The private party is at the California Clipper bar, located at

1002 N. California Ave.

$20 per person

$15 per Sentieri member

*Cash or check payment due by December 2, 2013

*Send check to: Sentieri 5430 N. Broadway St. Chicago, IL

*Call to make an appointment: 773-275-5325

La Zucca isn't only for Halloween

This week, seeing as though Halloween is fast approaching, we saw it only fitting that we introduce you to some of our favorite Italian idioms that also happen to reference one of the most popular foods from this time of the year. Pumpkin!

Avere poco sale in zucca translated literally means "to have very little salt in the pumpkin," but what does it even mean? The phrase is used to describe someone who is- how can we say?- lacking in intelligence or good sense. Interestingly enough, this phrase comes from a time when pumpkins were used as containers for salt. When poor farmers were low on salt, they would often say, "Abbiamo poco sale in zucca."

Pumpkins also got a bit of a bad rap since they weren't considered to be of much nutritional value and don't have a strong flavor. So if someone calles you a "zuccone" ("a big pumpkin") or tells you that you are a "zucca vuota" (an empty pumpkin), you can be assured that it isn't a compliment.


Buon Halloween a tutti!

Gisella
Sentieri Blog Contributor

Winter 2014 - Italian Class Schedule

Italian Class at Sentieri Italiani

Location 
Sentieri Italiani
5430 N. Broadway St. Chicago, IL 60640
Map/Directions

Italian Courses
Winter 2014
January 6th to March 15th

Basic Italian 1, absolute beginner
Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm

Basic Italian 2
Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm

Basic Italian 3
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm

Basic Italian 4
Saturdays, 10:30am–12:30pm

Intermediate Italian: Listening, Vocabulary and Speaking
Saturdays, 10:30am–12:30pm

Advanced Italian: Listening, Vocabulary and Speaking
Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm

Conversation Italian 1
Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm

Conversation Italian 2
Thursdays, 6:30-8:30pm

Conversation Italian 3
Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm

Conversation Italian 4
Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30pm

Book Club (intermediate/advanced)
Fridays, 10:00am–12:00pm

Course Fees
(min. 8 students per class)

Standard Registration (after November 15th)
Cash/check: $300.00

- Credit Card transactions: $15 extra, membership discount does not apply
- Materials not included. If required for your course, material prices will be sent with your course confirmation and will be payable at the first class.

Register by 

• Sending registration form and payment to Sentieri: 5430 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640

Private Italian classes at Sentieri

• One-on-one sessions to be scheduled upon registration. 
• Lessons by phone or email are also available 

Course Fees

• Six Lessons (One hour each) $420
• Eight Lessons (One hour each) $530
• Ten Lessons (One hour each) $650
• Any additional person is $30 per hour
• Lessons by phone or email are also available
• Classes can be held at your location for an additional $200 per package

Register by 

• Calling 773-275-5325. Once schedule is confirmed, payment is due one week prior to the first lesson. Send payment to Sentieri: 5430 N Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640

Daniela Cavallero during an Italian class on Skype

Private Italian classes on Skype

• One-on-one sessions to be scheduled upon registration. 
• Lessons held by Skype

Course Fees

• Individual hour $80
• 6 hour package $420
• 8 hour package $530
• 10 hour package $650

Register by 

• Calling 773-275-5325. Payment due at registration. Visa or Master Card only.

Interested in one of our classes but still have some questions? Call us today at 773-275-5325 or submit our online contact form.

A (Very) Brief History of the Giallo

An American writer wanders the streets of Rome when he witnesses a black-clad figure stab a woman inside an art gallery. Shocked, he rushes to help, only to find himself suddenly trapped by the gallery's enormous glass doors. Powerless, he watches in horror as the woman cries for help as she dies. 

 

With the approach of Halloween, many of us are spending the coming weeks catching up on horror flicks and Italy certainly has no dearth of films in this genre. The above scene opens Dario Argento's 1970 The Bird With the Crystal Plummage, a classic of the giallo genre.

 

Giallo is the Italian word for yellow, which was the trademark color of the covers of the pulp crime novels, published by Mondadori, starting in 1929. Following their enormous success, other publishing houses soon got in on the act, publishing their own cheap crime novels, always with the yellow cover. The term giallo soon became synonomous with crime fiction.

 

The films that soon emerged from these novels added elements of horror, eroticism, and madness, taking the typical giallo plots and transforming them from straightforward crime stories into psychological thrillers. While the whodunit aspect of the literary tradition was retained, the murders that occur in gialli are often grotesque, usually filmed in artful, even operatic, ways.

 

If your curiosity is piqued, here is the trailer from legendary director Mario Bava's 1963 film The Girl Who Knew Too Much, which is generally considered the first film of this genre.

 

 

Have you seen any giallo films? If so, which ones are your favorite? Tell us in the comments section below!

 

Gisella

Sentieri Blog Contributor

The New Italian Language

Last week while browsing La Repubblica I came across an article detailing new Italian words being put into the 2014 edition of Lo Zingarelli, an Italian dictionary. There has been a proposal of 1,500 new words, some of which come from Italian dialects and American slang. Some of these new words include:

“Hashtag”- This word comes from American slang, and it is primarily used within social media outlets like Twitter. Users place a “#” in front of words or phrases that describe their social media post. This allows other users to search a database that stores other postings that have used the same words or phrases.

“Adultescente”- This word refers to young people in their thirties whose lifestyle (study, work, home) and mentality are considered similar to those of a teenager. This word combines the words “adulto” (adult) and “adolescente” (adolescent).

“Videointervista”- This words means “video-interview”. It is a word that has been common in the Italian language for a while, but only now is it being introduced into Lo Zingarelli.

Changes in the Italian language are very fast. Massimo Arcangeli, a linguist, has noted that it is important to keep new words under observation for a long time so that the frequency of a word’s use and importance in Italian society can be determined.

There are, of course, some words that have been left out of the 2014 edition of Lo Zingarelli. Two of these omissions include:

 “Iperattivi”- This word means “hyperactive.”

“Bling Bling”- This word comes from American slang. It refers to a style of dress that is flashy and ostentatious.

Certainly these new words, coming from different cultural backgrounds, highlight the evolving nature of the Italian language in our modern society.

Brittany

Sentieri Blog Contributor 

Comedy, Italian Style at the Chicago International Film Festival

October 10 starts the beginning of the 49th edition of the Chicago International Film Festival and we're excited to see that a number of Italian films are scheduled to be shown. This year, in fact, the festival will be celebrating Italian cinema with the retrospective Comedy, Italian Style, showing some of the most beloved Italian comedies of the past few decades.

Some of the films that we're most excited about are Divorce, Italian Style, the 1961 satire of Sicilian male-chauvinist culture, and Amarcord, Fellini's dreamlike capolavoro that pays tribute to small-town Italian life.

Check out the full list of films and showtimes here.

What are some of the films that you are looking most forward to? Let us know in the comments section!

Gisella
Sentieri Blog Contributor