Caro diario

Caro diario (lit. 'Dear diary') is a 1993 Italian-French semi-autobiographical comedy film written, directed and co-produced by Nanni Moretti, who also stars as himself. The film is structured in three anthological episodes, presented as the chapters of Moretti's open diary, in which he describes his thoughts about various slice of life situations.

Caro diario
Italian theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nanni Moretti
Written by	Nanni Moretti
Produced by	Angelo Barbagallo Nanni Moretti
Starring	Nanni Moretti Renato Carpentieri Antonio Neiwiller
Cinematography	Giuseppe Lanci
Edited by	Mirco Garrone
Music by	Nicola Piovani
Production companies	Sacher Film Banfilm La Sept Cinéma
Distributed by	Lucky Red (Italy) BAC Films (France)
Release dates	12 November 1993 (1993-11-12) (Italy) 20 May 1994 (1994-05-20) (France)
Running time	100 minutes
Countries	Italy France
Language	Italian
Box office	L8.3 billion (Italy)[1]

The film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, where Moretti won the Best Director Award.^[2]

Plot

Chapter I: In Vespa (On My Vespa)

Putting the hot Roman summer to good use, Nanni Moretti dedicates himself to his favorite hobby, riding his Vespa through the streets of the half-deserted city.

Here, Moretti lets the landscape inspire his thoughts: he laments the banalization of politics in contemporary Italian cinema, comments on the gentrification of the quarters of Rome, mocks the overzealous critical reception of movies like Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, and confesses his love for dance caused by the movie Flashdance – later meeting its star Jennifer Beals. Finally, he visits the place in Ostia where Pier Paolo Pasolini was killed, to pay his respects.

Chapter II: Isole (Islands)

Having to work on an idea for a new movie, Moretti decides to leave Rome for a while for the more peaceful Aeolian Islands. In Lipari he's the guest of his friend Gerardo, an austere scholar who moved there eleven years earlier to better study James Joyce's Ulysses without being distracted by modern commodities such as television, which he despises. However, both are unable to find the tranquility they're searching for since the number of tourists has suddenly increased.

They move to Salina, where they are guests of two couples friends of Gerardo, both incapable of managing their hyperactive children, a feature that seems rampant on the entire island. Meanwhile, Gerardo begins watching television and gradually becomes completely addicted to it, and especially to soap operas. They move again, this time to Stromboli, where they are constantly bothered by a megalomaniac mayor who tries to involve them in the oddest projects.

They finally move to Alicudi, frugal and isolated, lacking water and electricity. Here Moretti seems to have found the right place to focus on his project, but soon Gerardo runs away in despair to catch the last ferry, unable to live without his favorite soap operas, while disavowing his ideals and proclaiming undying love for cheap entertainment.

Chapter III: Medici (Doctors)

Moretti clarifies to the audience that the following chapter will be based on a true story happened to him some years earlier; one day, he begins to suffer from persistent itching and insomnia. He visits many doctors and specialists, but they all dismiss him with different diagnosis, prescribing a lot of costly drugs and prohibiting him to eat most of his favorite food. Seeing no improvements, Moretti unsuccessfully tries alternative cures like reflexology and acupuncture.

After almost a year, a doctor notices his developing cough during a visit and suggests him an X-ray. That reveals a mass on his lung, which after a biopsy is discovered to be a still-curable Hodgkin's lymphoma. Moretti successfully goes through chemotherapy and has the lymphoma cured. Sometime later, he reads the definition of Hodgkin's lymphoma in a basic medical encyclopedia, finding out that its most common symptoms are exactly itching and insomnia. Surrounded by the dozens of useless drugs he bought, Moretti laments the incapability of most doctors of listening to their patients, before making a bitter toast "to health" with a glass of water.

Cast

Source:^[1]

Chapter I (In Vespa)

• Nanni Moretti as himself
• Giulio Base as car driver
• Giovanna Bozzolo as actor in the Italian film
• Sebastiano Nardone as actor in the Italian film
• Antonio Petrocelli as actor in the Italian film
• Gianfranco Mecacci as inhabitant of Casal Palocco
• Italo Spinelli [it] as man on the wall in Spinaceto
• Carlo Mazzacurati as film critic
• Jennifer Beals as herself
• Alexandre Rockwell as himself

Chapter II (Isole)

• Nanni Moretti as himself
• Renato Carpentieri as Gerardo
• Raffaella Lebboroni and Marco Paolini as the first Salina couple
• Claudia Della Seta and Lorenzo Alessandri [it] as the second Salina couple
• Antonio Neiwiller [it] as Mayor of Stromboli
• Conchita Airoldi as inhabitant of Panarea
• Riccardo Zinna as inhabitant of Alicudi
• Moni Ovadia as Lucio

Chapter III (Medici)

• Nanni Moretti as himself
• Mario Schiano as Prince of the dermatologists
• Valerio Magrelli as first dermatologist
• Sergio Lambiase as second dermatologist
• Roberto Nobile as third dermatologist
• Gianni Ferraretto as allergist
• Pino Gentile as Prince of the dermatologists's stand-in
• Franco Lucarelli as radiographer
• Oreste Rotundo as radiologist
• Serena Nono as reflexologist
• Yu Ming Lun as Chinese doctor
• Tou-Yui Chang Pio as Chinese doctor
• Umberto Contarello [it] as assistant to the Chinese doctors

Reception

The film grossed L8.3 billion in Italy^[1] It also grossed $3.1 million in France.^[3]

Year-end lists

• 9th – Janet Maslin, The New York Times^[4]
• Honorable mention – David Elliott, The San Diego Union-Tribune^[5]
• Honorable mention – Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News^[6]

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref
Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics	9 January 1995	Grand Prix	Nanni Moretti	Nominated	[7][8]
Cannes Film Festival	23 May 1994	Best Director		Won	[2]
		Palme d'Or	Caro diario	Nominated
César Awards	25 February 1995	Best Foreign Film		Nominated	[9]
Chicago International Film Festival	23 October 1994	Gold Hugo		Nominated	[10]
Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival	27 September 1994	Best International Film		Nominated	[11]
David di Donatello Awards	18 June 1994	Best Film		Won	[12][13]
		Best Director	Nanni Moretti	Nominated
		Best Producer	Angelo Barbagallo and Nanni Moretti	Nominated
		Best Actor	Nanni Moretti	Nominated
		Best Screenplay		Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Giuseppe Lanci	Nominated
		Best Editing	Mirco Garrone	Nominated
		Best Score	Nicola Piovani	Won
		Best Sound	Franco Borni	Nominated
European Film Awards	27 November 1994	FIPRESCI Prize	Caro diario	Won	[14]
Golden Ciak Awards	30 June 1994	Best Film		Won	[15]
		Best Director	Nanni Moretti	Won
		Best Screenplay		Won
		Best Cinematography	Nicola Piovani	Nominated
		Best Editing	Mirco Garrone	Nominated
		Best Sound	Nicola Piovani	Won
Italian Golden Globes	6 July 1994	Best Film	Caro diario	Won	[16][17]
		Best Actor	Nanni Moretti	Nominated
		Best Original Score	Nicola Piovani	Nominated
Nastro d'Argento Awards	19 March 1994	Best Director	Nanni Moretti	Won	[18][19]
		Best Producer	Angelo Barbagallo and Nanni Moretti	Nominated
		Best Actor	Nanni Moretti	Nominated
		Best Original Story		Nominated
		Best Score	Nicola Piovani	Nominated
National Society of Film Critics Awards	3 January 1996	Best Foreign Language Film	Caro diario	Nominated
Sant Jordi Awards	24 May 1995	Best Foreign Film		Won	[20]
Stockholm Film Festival	20 November 1994	Bronze Horse Award	Nominated

See also

• List of Italian films of 1993

References

1. Lancia, Enrico (2001). Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Vol. 6\1: Tutti i film italiani dal 1990 al 2000. A-L (in Italian). Rome: Gremese Editore. p. 139. ISBN 8884400856.
2. "Festival de Cannes: Caro diario". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
3. "Grosses of selected non-English language films by territory". Screen International. 16 February 1996. p. 16.
4. Maslin, Janet (December 27, 1994). "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Good, Bad and In-Between In a Year of Surprises on Film". The New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
5. Elliott, David (December 25, 1994). "On the big screen, color it a satisfying time". The San Diego Union-Tribune (1, 2 ed.). p. E=8.
6. Simon, Jeff (January 1, 1995). "Movies: Once More, with Feeling". The Buffalo News. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
7. ""Exotica" à l'UCC". Le Soir (in French). January 9, 1995. p. 9. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
8. "Jan Bucquoy, prix Cavens". Le Soir (in French). December 19, 1994. p. 9. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
9. "PALMARÈS 1995 - 20 ÈME CÉRÉMONIE DES CÉSAR". academie-cinema.org (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-02-23. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
10. "1994 — 30th Chicago Film Festival". chicagofilmfestival.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
11. "Another award for Egoyan film". Edmonton Journal. 27 September 1994.
12. "David: La sfida tra Moretti e Veronesi". La Stampa (in Italian). 5 May 1994. p. 51. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
13. Robiony, Simonetta (19 June 1994). "CINEMA: Il David della pace". La Stampa (in Italian). p. 19. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
14. "European Film Awards Winners 1994 - European Film Academy". europeanfilmacademy.org. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
15. "MORETTI VINCE ANCHE IL CIAK D'ORO". La Repubblica (in Italian). 30 June 1994. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
16. "ECCO I FINALISTI DEL GLOBO D' ORO". La Repubblica (in Italian). 23 June 1994. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
17. "Globo d'oro a Moretti, Galiena e Silvio Orlando". La Stampa (in Italian). 7 July 1994. p. 18. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
18. "Nastri d'argento, in lizza Moretti, Archibugi, Soldini". La Stampa (in Italian). 8 February 1994. p. 16. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
19. Caprara, Fulvia (20 March 1994). "Moretti d'argento". La Stampa (in Italian). p. 23. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
20. De Luna, Joaquin (24 May 1995). "CRÍTICA: Premios Sant Jordi". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2019.

External links

• Caro diario at IMDb
• Maslin, Janet. "One Worldview, Many Lively Vantage Points," The New York Times, Monday, September 26, 1994.
• Howe, Desson. "Caro Diario (movie review)," Washington Post, Friday, October 21, 1994.
• Shaked, Guy. "An analysis of Nanni Moretti's Caro Diario (Dear Diary)," geocities.com.