Udine and its great little Asian film festival!

Yes, we even have one little great Asian film festival right in the very heart of Udine! The Far East Film festival is now at its 11^th edition with close to 60 films being shown at the splendid Giovanni da Udine theatre form April 24^th to May 2^nd.

The opening night was jam packed with avid Asian film fans. Things got underway with Sabrina Baracetti, the president of the local cinema centre in Udine (and the brains behind the festival itself) and Udine’s mayor, Furio Honsell, who both gave opening remarks (in the picture with Baracetti).

The first film on the agenda was Thailand’s “Ong Bak 2” with the apparent heir of the late, great Bruce Lee, Tony Jaa (always a treat for me to see a great martial artist at work because it was thanks to Bruce Lee’s fantastic movies more than 30 years ago that inspired me to take kung-fu, and then taekwondo, at the ripe age of 16 years! Who knows, it was perhaps those very first Asian-production films with Lee that got me hooked in the first place on this genre of movie!). Quite the film indeed with high-energy martial arts scenes, including of all things elephants! Anther special treat as the film’s producers were also present (see pics).

The festival itself, deemed to be the best in Europe at least (it’s actually been reported on more than once by The Economist!), has also been responsible, as Baracetti herself said in a newspaper interview, for propelling onto the international movie stage the likes of film director Johhnie To, who was first exposed to movie fans right here in Friuli. The opening night also included surrounding stores which were open late for the public, including Far East memorabilia stands along some of the main streets. And the green bus? A nice idea for an information point for tourists and local citizens, located right in the main Piazza Liberta’ square.

Two special treats will be on the film menu: “Departures”, the Japanese movie which won this year’s Oscar as best foreign film, and South Korea’s “The Good, The Bad, The Weird”, a clear homage to the genius of the late Sergio Leone, the father of Italy’s famous "Spaghetti Westerns" (can anyone forget that cool-looking Clint Eastwood).

Some 50,000 spectators eventually took in this year’s Far East Film Festival in Udine. The winner was Japan’s “Departures” (I can see an American version of this movie with Robin Williams in the lead role!) and with Korea’s “Scandal Makers” 2^nd (the director picked up his prize of a stuffed doll) and Indonesia’s “The Rainbow Troops” 3^rd. A nice gesture for the festival’s director, Sabrina Baracetti, as one of her gallant assistants brought her on stage a bouquet of flowers.

The really big news is that quite possibly a most illustrious guest will be at the 12^th edition next year, director John Woo! Some may recall one of his most famous, and rather violent movies, “Face-Off”, with a rather mean John Travolta and Nicholas Cage. I managed to take in 14 movies out of more than 50 (and no doubt some super-aficionado out there managed to see ALL the movies, but he/she is probably recovering in the rehab ward of Udine’s hospital for “movie overdose”!) All pics by M. Rimati)!

Udine’s invasion of the Vespas!

One fine thing that Italy’s given the world is the legendary Vespa motorbike (remember a very young, slim and cute Audrey Hepburn riding on the back of one of these things through the streets of Rome together with a very handsome Gregory Peck in Hepburn’s first-ever movie, the 1953 romantic comedy by Billy Wyler, “Roman Holiday”?).

After the Suzuki 550 I had in Rome, the Vespa 50cc motorbike was the second two-wheeler I had in the Eternal City some 15 years ago. Indeed a great albeit rather dangerous mode of transportation in a city like Rome (I still recall the many spills I had with the Vespa!).

Udine was host on April 18th, 2009 to the 3rd national Vespa gathering. More than 500 owners showed up. Nothing to fear naturally for the Hell’s Angeles out there (all pics by M. Rimati)!