Ocean's 13 in Italia--in Inglese!

Last night we went to see a movie in English, and we were all ridiculously excited. I personally love going to the movies, and I had been disappointed about not getting to see Ocean's 13 before I left, so I was happy to see it. But I was even happier, I guess, to see a movie in English. I usually don't mind watching movies in other languages because when I was taking Italian freshman year the one movie channel played some movies in Italian with Italian subtitles and I watched them. I just really didn't like the one we saw as a class. I couldn't really follow it and I thought it was kind of boring. But I think I would have thought that if it was in English--I didn't really like the whole Jesus-symbolism. It made it seems as though the people in the village weren't too bright.

We weren't too sure how the movie theater would be set up. The one we went to for the Italian movie was really small. When you walked in there was just a desk where you paid and then you went back these hallways to find your theater. The theater itself was pretty; kind of modern-architecture and simple. It didn't really remind me of too many movie theaters in America. The biggest difference was that they had an intermission about halfway through the movie. I didn't really understand the point of it, though, because they just bumped up the lights for about five seconds and then dimmed them again.

The theater we went to for Ocean's 13 looked much more like a traditional American theater. It was on VIa del Corso near Piazza del Popolo. You bought your tickets through the counter with the glass like you do in the states. And there was a concession stand, which I was really not expecting. The concession stand was really different, though from mainstream American theaters. They had a bar where you could get beer or mixed drinks. They also sold water and American candy bars, which is interesting but they were playing American movies so it's not as strange that the American candy bars would be present. The theater actually had popcorn too, but Rachel and Tyler said that it wasn't freshly made and it also was not buttery.

We went into the theater and the seats were really comfortable, like blue plush chairs. It was a small theater that was pretty much filled with UD students. It was the six of us and then we saw some graduates that we had met in Florence over the weekend. We were all talking when all of the sudden the lights shut off. There was no gentle dimming; one minute they were on and the next it was pitch black. They had one preview and then they went right into the movie. I thought it was interesting that they didn't have the whole "don't use your cell phone" spiel. In America, you can't go into a theater without one of those. In Italy, I don't think that people use their cell phones as much as people do in America. In the US, you can't really walk down the street without seeing half of the people talking on their phones. Here, there are people on their phones, but it's usually just to get information or to catch up. It seems as though people here are more comfortable with silence and not concerned with talking on the phone to fill up time or dead air. Italians seem to value actual person to person interaction rather than the constant phone conversations that we have in America.

The movie was in English but it had Italian subtitles. I wondered why people would go and see an American movie in a language they didn't understand but then I remembered everything we learned with the speakers about the Italians' love of movies. They said that Italians love movies and go see them all the time. Americans also love movies and go see them all of the time but it seems like Italians may have a higher taste level in movies than the mainstream Americans. The American movies that are out aren't all of the crappy ones that everyone sees in the US. The ones we saw playing are the bigger blockbusters, like Ocean's 13, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Shrek 3.

Our movie also had an intermission. It came at a really choppy point, barely in between scenes, and it was slightly longer than the last one, but I still didn't understand the point. A couple of guys got up and left but the movie started again before they got back, so the intermission really isn't long enough to get anything done.

It was really interesting watching the movie with the Italian subtitles. I can read Italian much better than I can speak it, so I was trying to go back and forth sometimes to get an idea of what the translated version was. There were some words that couldn't be translated, like "Nuff said," which just appeared as it was at the bottom. There were some that were changed so that the meaning was different, but I can't really think of any now. They were just phrases that in American English you can't really translate into another language and get the same meaning.

I liked seeing the movie, and I'm really glad we went. As far as the movie goes, I really liked it. I love Ocean's 11 and 12, so I knew I'd like it. It wasn't as funny as the other two, and it didn't have as many twists and surprises, but it was still a good con, and it was nice to see an American movie with the actor's actual voices. Shakespeare in Love or It's a Wonderful Life just aren't the same with Italian dubbing.