Italian cinema's crisis of ideas: endless couple comedies

Marco D'Egidio argues that Italian cinema suffers from a crisis of ideas, not industry. The second consecutive exclusion from Cannes competition signals trouble, but the real problem is thematic narrowness. Recent films like 'Moglie e marito' (with Kasia Smutniak and Pierfrancesco Favino), 'Lasciati andare' (with Toni Servillo and Carla Signoris), and the hit 'Perfetti sconosciuti' by Paolo Genovese all revolve around couple crises, treated as light comedies with therapists and infidelity. Ferzan Ozpetek noted Italy makes too many comedies, but D'Egidio says the issue is the reduction of society to couple dynamics. Exceptions like Paolo Virzì's 'La pazza gioia' and 'Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot' are rare. The article was published on Artribune in April 2017.