Italy i/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
Christian De Sica (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjan de ˈsiːka]) (born 5 January 1951) is an Italian actor, director and scriptwriter.
De Sica was born in Rome, Italy, the second son of Italian director Vittorio De Sica and Spanish actress María Mercader. After attending liceo classico in Rome, he worked in a hotel in Venezuela, where he began his career as an artist. He enrolled in "Lettere" (Literature and Arts) at La Sapienza university (1970), but did not reach a degree.
He was attracted to music, and participated in the Sanremo Festival singing "Mondo mio" ("My world") (1973). However, the results convinced him to follow in his father's footsteps and devote himself to acting. De Sica developed his own style of comedy and entertainment also in Rai television shows, as Bambole, non c'è una lira which gave him a large success in 1978.
With his father's help, he was able to take his first steps in the movie world with such teachers and mentors as Roberto Rossellini (Blaise Pascal, 1971), Vittorio De Sica himself (Una breve vacanza, 1973), Pupi Avati (Bordella, 1976) and Salvatore Samperi (1979 Liquirizia and 1981 Casta e pura).
He married Silvia Verdone, sister of Carlo, with whom he had two children Brando and Mariarosa. He was directed by Verdone in Borotalco (1982) and Compagni di scuola (1988).
Jerry Calà (born 28 June 1951) is an Italian comedian, actor and director.
Born as Calogero Calà in Catania, as a child he moved in Verona. In the early 70's Calà co-founded together with Umberto Smaila, Franco Oppini and Ninì Salerno a cabaret-ensemble, "i gatti di Vicolo Miracoli". In early 80's, after two films with the group, he started a solo career as leading actor in numerous comedy films. Calà debuted as director in 1994 with Chicken Park, a low-budget parody of Jurassic Park.
Massimo Antonio Boldi (born July 23, 1945, in Luino, Lombardy, Italy) is an Italian stand-up comedian and actor.
Boldi was born in Luino on 23 July 1945. In 1955 his family moved to Milan, where he joined evening classes and began working as a window-dresser and then as a door-to-door salesman for a pastry company. In 1968 he started performing in cabaret. In the 1970s he did not perform, but managed a bar-latteria in Milan. On September 29, 1973, he married Marisa Selo (cousin of Formula One driver Michele Alboreto). Their marriage lasted until Selo's death on April 8, 2004. They had three daughters: Micaela, Manuela, and Marta.
Boldi entered show business as a drummer. He played in the group I Mimitoki before joining the better-known La pattuglia azzurra ("The Blue Patrol"), which was headed by a young Claudio Lippi. He went on to be a drummer in Gino Paoli's orchestra and many other bands.
Boldi's continued his drumming career at the Derby night club, established in 1959 as a jazz venue by Gianni Bongiovanni and his wife Angela. Among the artists he worked with were Enzo Jannacci, Cochi and Renato, Giorgio Gaber, Bruno Lauzi, Umberto Bindi, Gino Paoli, Paolo Villaggio, Walter Waldi and Enrico Intra, joint founder of the Derby Club. There, at the suggestion of Bongiovanni, he became a stand-up comedian, creating characters that soon became popular in the club and, after appearances on local television, outside. In those years he and Teo Teocoli performed as a duo, both in the Derby Club and on television.
Fabri Fibra (born Fabrizio Tarducci on 17 October 1976) is an Italian rapper.
Tarducci was born in Senigallia, Marche. He became interested in music from a young age; he wrote and performed his first piece when he was 17 years old.
In 1995 he recorded his first demo. He created the tandem Uomini di Mare with DJ Lato, beatmaker and deejay, and in 1996 they produced the underground CD Dei del mare quest'el gruv. In 1999 Fabri and Lato produced and distributed the LP Sindrome di fine millennio ("End of the Millennium Syndrome"), with collaborations from El Presidente (also known as Esa), Inoki, Joe Cassano and his brother Nesli.
Following his underground success, Fabri Fibra began performing around Italy. In 2000 he established his label and group Teste Mobili Records (Bobbing Head Records), and collaborated with various Italian rap groups, lending vocals as well as lyrics to the mixtape circuit.
In 2002 Fabri released his first solo album, titled Turbe giovanili (Juvenile Troubles), for which he wrote and recorded his lyrics under the production and arrangement of Neffa. A year later Fabri distributed Lato e Fabri Fibra which brought a close to the partnership with Lato and the Uomini di mare project with aky il grande.
Plot
Sister Italy is a heartfelt, hilarious, culinary escapade that follows the fortunes of two Italian-American sisters, Italia and Maria, who are rival cooks. They clash in an intriguing cooking competition for a place in the affections, and last will and testament, of their rich, eccentric, aged aunt. The lively contest inevitably involves the families of the sisters, and causes a full-blown, typical Italian family feud that explodes into farcical emotional outbursts and appetizing gastronomic confrontations. The death of the aunt, whose will favors one sister over the other, only intensifies the conflict.
Plot
While waiting for the brain surgery of his daughter Angela, victim of a motorcycle accident, the surgeon Timoteo (Sergio Castellitto) recalls his torrid affair with and passion for Italia (Penélope Cruz), a simple woman from slums in the periphery of the big city where he lives. The ghost of the beloved and sexual object of desire Italia chases him in his memories.
Keywords: abuse, accident, adultery, based-on-novel, box-office-hit, dead-woman-on-bed, dead-woman-with-eyes-open, directed-by-an-actor, directed-by-star, doctor
Plot
Three different episodes placed in the Napoli of 1993. Aurora is abandoned by her husband and moves to a new flat in another zone of the city. She meets her former boyfriend and starts again a relationship. But he takes profit of her absence from the flat to steal almost everything. A young, just set free from jail, discovers that his mother is actually a transsexual! Last episode is about Libera that works hardly at her kiosk. Soon she discovers her husband is unfaithful and she places a video camera to get evidences of this. But instead than leave him, she takes benefit from the whole situation.
Keywords: 1990s, divorce, episodic-structure, irony, italy, kiosk, maid, napoli, napoli-italy, prostitution
Plot
Three short stories full of absurd Italian humor. Uno: Oddjobs man Elia is hired to be a waiter and soon finds himself caught up in a plot to knock off his mistress (in more ways than one). Due: Della is convinced that aliens are on their way to consume the world and before long ends up a guinea pig on a spaceship from the planet Phobos. Tre: Roberto becomes a Bersaglieri in the Italian army and nearly causes a war between Italy and Switzerland over a packet of cigarettes.
Keywords: africa, episodic, female-nudity, italian-sex-comedy, sex-comedy
Fratelli d'Italia,
l'Italia s'è desta,
dell' elmo di Scipio
s'è cinta la testa.
Dov'è la vittoria?
le porga la chioma,
che schiava di Roma
Iddio la creò.
Uniamorci, uniamorci,
l'unionee l'amore
rivelano ai popoli
le vie del Signore.
Giuriamo far libero
il suolo natio:
uniti per Dio,
chi vincer ci può?
Avanti Italia,
Italia from dusk till down,
where is now
your Victory,
for God made you
the slave of Rome.
Speranza Italia,
Avanti popoli Italiani,
Will you die
for Freedom,
forget the past,
until the ties
Now Italia,
Alright!
In New York I found Rome,
I found Milan, I found Paris
New York is made of Buenos Aires, Istambul, Venice
Grandmaster flash, new eve, guitaring, Beastie Boys
I wanna wake up in the city with Frankie and his voice
L.A.'s nice, but New York's my home
It's all good, but I'm so tired
L.A.'s fine but it's not home
It's very nice but I'm Brooklyn for life
There's no á¹—lace where you can find the peace of every place
New York is like a mirror where the world reflects its face
L.A.'s nice, but New York's my home
It's all good, but I'm so tired
L.A.'s fine but it's not home
It's very nice but I'm Brooklyn for life
I miss the melting of the voices mixing in my street
I want to feel the midnight train underneath my feet
This land is your land, from New Zealand to Sicily
Home is where the heart is, and I keep my heart with me
L.A.'s nice, but New York's my home
It's all good, but I'm so tired
L.A.'s fine but it's not home
It's very nice but I'm Brooklyn for life