Having lived in New York for fifteen years, a man returns to his native hometown in Sicily to visit his mother after receiving a disturbing letter from his father. Based on Elio Vittorini’s 1941 novel Conversations in Sicily, Sicilia! explores the issues of class, memory, and family against the backdrop of the modern Italian countryside. He learns about the Sicilian way of life from stylized conversations with an orange picker, his fellow train passengers, his mother, and finally, a knife-sharpener.
Directed by Danièle Huillet and Jean-Marie Straub and with the participation of Gianni Buscarino, Vittorio Vigneri, Angela Nugara and Carmelo Maddio, the movie was filmed in Syracuse and Messina in black and white. Information here.
Italian with English subtitles, 66 minutes.
