Ciao, Professore!

Starring:Paolo Villaggio, Isa Danieli, Gigio Morra, Sergio Solli, Ester Carloni, Paolo Bonacelli, Maria Troncone, Carmela Pecoraro, Maria Esposito, Adriano Pantaleo, Mario Bianco, Anna Rita D'Anzio, Ivano Salazaro, Pierfrancesco Bonuto, Filomena Lieto, Salvatore Terracciano, Antonio Scotto di Frega, Roberta Galli, Luigi Lastorina, Marco Troncone
Director: Lina Wertmüller
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Description

From Academy Award(R)-nominated director Lina Wertmuller (Best Director -- SEVEN BEAUTIES; SWEPT AWAY) comes this spirited comedy hailed by critics coast-to-coast for its vitality and raunchy good humor. CIAO, PROFESSORE! is the story of an upper-class teacher from conservative Northern Italy who, due to a computer error, finds himself teaching third-grade truants at a ramshackle school in the south. Yet along the way, the earnest "professor" learns some valuable lessons when he begins to see life through the fresh, vibrant eyes of his scrappy young students! Don't miss this rambunctious comedy -- a film absolutely brimming with life!

Customer Reviews:

We need more movies like this one.........2007-03-20

This movie shows the big difference between Northern and Southern Italy, between the rich and the poor and what such difference does to children.
You will need to own this DVD because you will watch this movie many times.

Molto sentimentality, ringrazia il Dio.......2006-12-05

CIAO PROFESSORE! wallows in sentimentality, and thank God, because without it, this would be a threadbare tale indeed. Our story: A third-grade teacher from the northern Italy is mistakenly assigned to a grubby, impoverished town named Corzano (which is actually "Arzano") near Naples.

Since Naples is the Italian Detroit, this is approximately akin to a teacher from a private school in upstate New York being assigned to an urban school in Flint, Michigan. Anyway, the teacher is shocked at the corruption, ignorance and venality that he sees. He hangs out with the kids in his classroom a bit (somehow managing to avoid utilizing any semblance of a lesson plan), and when the time comes to move on, he does so.

The director gets points for not varnishing over the town's grimy surfaces, and for having an ending that was actually less sentimental than I anticipated. Along the way, the storyline meanders about... well, actually, the word "meander" dignifies the plot with a momentum and purpose that it never achieves. But I will say this: The gap-toothed Italian urchins cast in this film are ridiculously cute, even when they are shouting coarse vulgarities at their teacher and each other... which is often.

SIDELIGHT: The film's original Italian title was "Io speriamo che me la cavo," which I'm assuming is an idiom of the Amalfi coast or perhaps something from the Neopolitan dialect, as I can make no sense of it.

Excelente.......2006-11-10

The story is magnificent. The children are adorable. The characters seem real.

As chilling as it is charming.......2006-10-30

The charm of this film lies in the adaptation
of the essays written by 8 and 9-year old
schoolchildren in the Neapolitan suburb of
Arzano. That these were turned into dialog
so successfully is a triumph of screen-
writing-the originals are poignant, but not
so eloquent. Paolo Villagio is perfectly
cast as the professore from the North who
brings his Padanic sensibilities to the
Mezzogiorno. The clash of cultures comedy
is predictable but engaging.

The chilling aspect of the film is the
overwhelming pessimism that has pervaded
the outlook of children at such an early
age. It is most un-American and for us,
with our rosy views of childhood, disconcerting.

It's worth pointing out that if you're
trying to learn Italian by watching movies,
(not a bad approach at that) this may not
be right for you. The Neapolitan dialect
is difficult for many Italian speakers
and is different enough from what you would
need to know in other parts of Italy.

Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine and the forthcoming novel, bang-BANG from Kunati Press

Worth Watching Again And Again.......2006-07-13

This movie, the story of a teacher from an upscale area who is mistakenly assigned to a poverty-stricken school, is heartwarming and very funny. The acting is superb; the children are street kids who quickly win your heart as you get to know each one's distinct personality and life's story. I am trying to learn to speak Italian, so it serves a double purpose for me. I've watched a number of other Italian movies, which were enjoyable, but this one I watch again and again.

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