Women’s Month at Florence’s Odeon Cinema
In March screenings at Florence’s Odeon Cinema showcase Academy Award nominated films and films depicting strong women. In Phantom Thread, nominated for six Oscar nominations, a determined lover and muse to an older man disrupts his well-controlled life with her persistence. A California teenager asserts her individuality and desire to find a new milieu with sophistication and culture in director Greta Gerwig’s debut film Lady Bird. In Finding Your Feet, Imelda Staunton plays a jilted woman who rediscovers life of a totally different sort to which she was accustomed. In time for Holy Week, the film Mary Magdalene explores and redefines the woman who loved and revered Jesus Christ as her leader. Movies will be screened in English with Italian subtitles.
Phantom Thread: Thursday, March 1 through Monday, March 5 (4, 6:30 and 9 pm).
Three-time Oscar winner for best actor, Daniel Day-Lewis plays perfectionist couturier Reynolds Woodcock in this film filled with romantic tension, conflict of wills and lush photography. Reynolds and his sister Cyril (Leslie Manville) are at the apex of the British fashion scene, dressing royalty, stars and wealthy socialites of the 1950s. A confirmed bachelor, women come and go until he tires of them, until Alma (Vicky Krieps) a waitress at a countryside resort, comes into his life. The craftsman woes the strong-willed young woman and his meticulously tailored life begins to unravel.
Special Oscar Week March 6-12
Odeon Cinema presents its traditional Oscar’s week dedicated to Academy Award-winning films. Check the website for the schedule of the March 4 Academy Award winners.
Lady Bird: Thursday, March 15 (9 pm), Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 16-18 (4:30, 6:30 and 9 pm).
Written and directed by Greta Gerwig, this highly acclaimed film tells the story of a teenager coming of age with humor, compassion and emotion. Saoirse Ronan plays Christine Mcpherson, an opinionated and quirky high school senior who gives herself the name Lady Bird. Attending a Catholic school in Sacramento, California, Lady Bird yearns to escape to an East Coast college “where culture is.” Much of the film focuses on the turbulent relationship between mother (Laurie Metcalf) and daughter, although they are bonded by a love that transcends two outspoken and independent women. Ronan received the Golden Globe award for best actress and has been nominated for an Oscar. Gerwig collected the Golden Globe award for best comedic film and has been nominated for Oscars for both Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. Metcalf is nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Finding Your Feet: Monday, March 19 through Wednesday, March 21 (4:15, 6:30 and 9 pm)
This British comedy stars Imelda Staunton as an upper-class snob ‘Lady’ Sandra Abbot who discovers her husband of 40 years is having an affair with her best friend. She flees to London to live with her free-spirited sister, who lives in public housing. The two couldn’t be more different, but eventually she joins her sister and her Bohemian friends on the dance floor and begins a new life. The soundtrack, featuring artists Bill Haley and the Comets, the Big Bopper and Benny Goodman, will definitely appeal to Baby Boomers.
Mary Magdalene: Thursday, March 22 through Saturday, March 24 (9 pm) and Sunday, March 25 (4, 6:15 and 9 pm)
This film directed by Garth Davis (Lion) challenges the traditional take on Mary Magdalene (Rooney Mara) as a ‘fallen woman,’ portraying her as an intelligent and free-thinking feminist. Leaving her small fishing village and rejecting societal norm of marriage and children, she follows a charismatic socialist visionary Jesus of Nazareth (Joaquin Phoenix) joining his group of apostles. Filmed in coastal Puglia, the scenes reflect the Holy Land of the first century BC. (rita kungel)
