Part of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s mission is to foster greater understanding through world cinema. This year 72 Foreign Language films were submitted for Golden Globes consideration. Here is an overview.

Ostia is a working class town on the Mediterranean coast near Rome; a small time seaside resort in the summer, it converts to a virtual ghost town in the off-season, home to blue collar families, a large immigrant population and an assortment of oddballs and outcasts. On this dreary backdrop in 1995, that lifelong friends Vittorio and Cesare conduct a day-to-day existence, filling endless days with aimless banter with the gang at the local bar, small time crime and drug use. The two share everything: adventures, fights and girls. When Vittorio meets Linda, he decides to leave his wild days behind, finds a job and begins to mentor Linda’s son. Cesare, on the other hand, falls deeper into his bad habits and the two inevitably drift apart. Cesare’s encounter with Viviana, seems to open the door to his own redemption – but getting free of life’s addictions is never easy.

In the panorama of current Italian cinema with young directors working in the traditions of Fellini (Paolo Sorrentino) or Francesco Rosi (Roberto Garrone), Caligari occupied a singular place with films harkening to the tradition of neorealism and the work of Pier Paolo Pasolini. The director, who passed away at age 67 in May, just three months before this film’s debut at the Venice festival, came from a documentary background and began producing films in the 70s with an emphasis on drug addicts and the Italian political youth protest movement active in the late 70s. He eventually graduated to fiction completing just three features: Amore Tossico, L’Odore della Notte and Non Essere Cattivo all dealing with crime and drug use from a humanist and neorealist point of view. His final film, benefitting from excellent all-around performances is a fitting testament to his life’s work.

Luca Celada