"No
one is so completely disenchanted with the world, or knows it so thoroughly, or
is so utterly disgusted with it, that when it begins to smile upon him he does
not become partially reconciled to it."
Giacomo
Leopardi (1798-1837) was a poet, philosopher, essayist and philologist.
Although he lived in Recanati, a secluded town in the
ultra-conservative Papal States, he came in touch with the most important
thoughts of the Enlightenment, and, by his own literary evolution, created
an extraordinary and celebrated poetic work, related to
the Romantic era. Although Giacomo Leopardi did not attain the
fame he deserved in his lifetime, he is now regarded as one the greatest poets
in Italian literature.
Speaking of Giacomo Leopardi, yesterday
morning it was a very special school day for me as well as for some of my colleagues and our
students. In fact, we went to the cinema in Rome to see the movie "Il Giovane Favoloso". Directed by
Mario Martone and released in Italy last October, it is a
dolefully gorgeous movie based on the life of this superb
poet. One of the best Italian movies I have ever seen, believe you me!
In truth, I have loved Giacomo Leopardi
since I was a student at high school because of his incomparable creative
genius, his intense depiction of human life as solitary and futile,
his intuition of universal pain, of the
transience of things, of the inexorable passing of time, of the blind power of
nature - the German philosopher Schopenhauer wrote that Leopardi presented the "mockery and wretchedness of this
existence ... but with such a variety of forms and expressions, with such
a richness of images, that he never induces displeasure, but instead stimulates
and engages us." (The World as Will
and Representation, Vol II, 46). He was indeed the first European writer to portray and examine the
self in a way that feels familiar to us today.
Here you
can read a very interesting review from The Guardian.
You can also read
Roberto Saviano's review of this "fabulous" movie in Italian here.
Click here to discover ten other movies based on the life of some
famous poets.
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