CinemAperitivo: Good Morning, Babylon [OmeU]

Italien 1987, R: Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani mit Vincent Spano, Joaquim de Almeida, Greta Scacchi, 105 Min

Im Anschluss Aperitivo und Gespräch

 Vittorio and Paolo Taviani's tribute to early Hollywood, about Italian brothers (Joaquim De Almeida, Vincent Spano) who immigrate in 1915 and work on D.W. Griffith's "Intolerance." Griffith: Charles Dance. Edna: Greta Scacchi. Mabel: Desiree Becker.

The dawn of Hollywood is brought to the screen in this fable about two Italian brothers--Nicola and Andrea Bonnano (Vincent Spano and Joaquim de Almeida)--whose craftsmanship augments D.W. Griffith's 1916 masterpiece INTOLERANCE. The film begins in Tuscany, 1913, as a master restorer of facades (Omero Antonutti) and his sons put the finishing touches on an exquisite old basilica. Afterwards, the patriarch announces that he is selling his unprofitable company.

His two favorite sons, Nicola and Andrea, who inherited his "hands of gold," vow to make a fortune in America and then return to buy back the family business. In Hollywood, the fact that they are "the sons of the sons of the sons of Michelangelo and Leonardo" impresses no one--except two pretty extras (Greta Scacchi and Desiree Becker) with whom they fall in love. Finally, however, their design for the gigantic elephants of INTOLERANCE's "Babylon" sequence is spotted by Griffith (Charles Dance), and fortune follows.