BAARIà

A new film is out, named Baarià, which is the old Sicilian for the current town of Bagharia. And that is an important change.

During the days of Mussolini, which corresponded with the early days of (Italian invented) radio, one of Il Duce's initiatives was to bring Italy more closely united culturally, by promoting a single language for all of what is now Italy. All radio programming had to be in Italian, which is based on Florentine as spoken in Rome. The many dialects of Latin that were also spoken in modern Italy were to become extinct. All place names that were in local dialect were changed, either to Italian equivalents (as in Bagharia from Baarià, or Sciacca from the Arabic Xacca) or changed entirely (as in Porto Empodecles from Vigata). In addition, people could be fined for speaking dialect in public, so people taking their passagiata in the village square had to be careful about who was listening, or had to speak Italian. Hereabouts, speaking Sicilian was done only at home, behind the closed doors where Pranzo was served each day. Now, even though some of the adolescents I know consider those who speak Sicilian as a first language, and Italian as a second language as ignorant, the schools of Sicily are starting to teach Sicilian at the elementary level.

But (of course) I digress. The film is about a young boy, poor, as were most people in the mezzogiorno, and what it was like to grow up in Baarià. It shows how he is pushed to the Communist party by the excesses of Mussolini's brown shirts, and the excesses of the land lords, and of the mafia. It captures very well what I imagine to be the culture of the time, a culture I still get hints of when I talk with old men in the plaza and in the countryside.

I will not talk about the story, except to say that it holds together very well, and could very well be a real biography. The cinematography is excellent. The scenery brought tears to my eyes as I saw inimitable shots of the Sicilian countryside. The acting was superb, from the main characters to the pen seller at the corner. Even Salvo Piccone was able to take a non-comedic role and handle it well, and he is one of the best physical comedy actors on the scene in Italy these days. And the female lead - she is to die for.

If ever it gets to American theaters, it is a must see. Whether it is dubbed, subtitled, or only in the original Sicilian-Italian mix, it is worth seeing, and understandable. It may be nominated for an Oscar this year in the foreign film category, and perhaps should just go on to best film of the year. It is that good.