Caterina in the Big City (Caterina va in citta) (2003)
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89% of critics liked it
(37 reviews) -
71% of users liked it
(898 ratings)
Writer/director Paolo Virzì and co-writer Francesco Bruni follow up their sly fish-out-of-water comedy My Name Is Tanino with another comedy in a similar vein, Caterina in the Big City. Giancarlo (Sergio Castellitto) is delighted when he has an opportunity to leave his provincial teaching job and… More Writer/director Paolo Virzì and co-writer Francesco Bruni follow up their sly fish-out-of-water comedy My Name Is Tanino with another comedy in a similar vein, Caterina in the Big City. Giancarlo (Sergio Castellitto) is delighted when he has an opportunity to leave his provincial teaching job and drag his wife Agata (Margherita Buy) and 12-year old daughter Caterina (newcomer Alice Teghil) back to his old neighborhood in Rome. Caterina is a sweet, naïve, and pretty girl, and on her first day of school, she finds herself mocked as a hick. Her classmates are the sons and daughters of Rome's elite. Margherita's (Carolina Iaquaniello) parents are prominent intellectuals, and she leads a faction of bohemian socialist kids, while Daniella's father is a political heavyweight, and her preppy clique dresses in designer duds and espouses right-wing politics. Poor Caterina finds the two opposing factions battling over her allegiance, but every time she makes a new friend, her father fouls things up. Giancarlo, who is also an aspiring novelist, spends his evenings at home ranting about the elites and their devious, cliquish ways, but every time he's in the presence of an important person, he desperately tries to ingratiate himself and get his talents noticed. Meanwhile, he's drifting into depression and isolating himself from his wife and daughter. Caterina in the Big City was shown at New York City's Walter Reade Theater in 2004 as part of a Sergio Castellitto retrospective presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Directed By
- Paolo Virzì
- Written By
- Francesco Bruni, Paolo Virzì, Paolo Verzi
- Genres
- Drama, Art House & International, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 2003 Wide
- On DVD
- Dec 20, 2005
- Studio
- Empire Films
Critic Reviews
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Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the surface, Caterina in the Big City is like Mean Girls, Italian-style. But it's much more layered than that.
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John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
Caterina in the City is a coming-of-age story, of course, but its adult characters are also well rendered.
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Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News
It's an adolescent-to-adult drama that never veers into maudlin or sugary territory. There's a realness on screen that translates to any culture.
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Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Though Caterina is unusually well-acted and crafted for this kind of movie ... Giancarlo is the one character who makes the movie special.
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Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
Played in a manic, volcanic manner by Castellitto, Giancarlo is a constant source of humor and embarrassment.
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Cast
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Alice Teghil
as Caterina Iacovoni
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Claudio Amendola
as Manilo Germano
- Flavio Bucci
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Margherita Buy
as Agata Iacovoni
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Sergio Castellitto
as Giancarlo Iacovoni
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Galatea Ranzi
as Livia Margherita's Mother
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Carolina Iaquaniello
as Margherita Rossi Chaillet
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Federica Sbrenna
as Daniela Germano
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Zach Wallen
as Edward
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Martino Reviglio
as Gianfilippo
- Antonio Carnevale
- Silvio Vannucci
