ITALY LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
NEW DOCS
Luca and Gustav, a young couple living in Rome, leave their apartment and debate deserting Italy altogether. Wouldn’t life be better in Berlin? In a rainbow of Fiat 500s, they spend six months crisscrossing the country, from the shuttered factories of once-iconic brands to tourist-heavy Tuscany, chatting with devoted Fascists, fevered acolytes of the corrupt President Berlusconi, and victims of organized crime. They also pop over to George Clooney’s villa on Lake Como. They gaze upon an Italy that seems to have forgotten its own history, and struggle to focus on the inspiring, the tasty, and the tolerant with a collage of witty animations, archival footage of a bygone dolce vita, and their own affectionate banter. Even Sophia Loren lives in Switzerland, Gustav wryly notes. Will they join her as Italian expatriates? LB
Directors
Gustav Hofer, Luca Ragazzi
Producers
Gustav Hofer, Vania Del Borgo
Editor
Desideria Rayner
Cinematographer
Michele Paradisi
Release Year
2011
Festival Year
2012
Country
Italy, Germany
Run Time
75 minutes