It seems that too often Italian culture is reduced to small slices of life that have to do with eating and drinking. While a big fan of imbibing and eating, it always seems such a pity when other aspects of Italian life are given less play. 

Related

Articles1/1

Italian Neorealism in NY. Life Lessons at the Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater

• 
• 

This month things are a bit different in New York City though. The Neorealist film festival has brought 40 films that have shown the harder side of Italian life. I saw two films this past week, Giorni di Gloria, about the Partisans during the Second World War and Riso Amaro about the Mondine (women who worked the rice fields for 40 days starting each year in May).

I confess I knew almost nothing about the Mondine and the conditions under which they were forced to work. These women came from cities like Ferrara and La Spezia to work the rice fields near Vercelli in Piedmont. I always found it strange to drive by the rice fields when I lived in Italy but I never knew that rice used to be hand picked. 

While a lot of marriages and long friendships were formed during these work retreats, the workers were still poorly paid and the work itself was exhausting.

Conversely, I have been aware of the Partisan's history for many years. A number of my friends are from Emilia Romagna and had had relatives murdered either because they were partisans themselves or because they sympathized with that part of the political spectrum.

That film showed the massacre at the Fosse Ardeatine in Rome, the trial of the official responsible for it and more horrific scenes of violence and carnage. It also showed the courage of thousands of people who fought the Nazis.

I only learned of the massacre at the Fosse Ardeatine some eight or nine years ago. The brutal murder of civilians, 10 for each German soldier who died following a bomb attack by partisans is a tragic episode in Italian history. Little reported here in the United States, I went to see the memorial in Rome some years ago.

What both of these films left me with was the sensation of just how complicated life is in a dire situation, be it war or poverty. It is very hard to know what one might do in these or other drastic circumstances. I always like to think that I and many other people would bring our noblest part to the table in a a moment but these movies rightly point out that many people make foolish or bad choices at different times in life. Some are able to straighten things out while others don't get the opportunity. Somewhat like life.