Versione Originale

This week on 13th October, the 11th edition of Rome's Film Festival opened. Rome doesn't need a film festival but the Mayor in 2005, Walter Veltroni, felt that as Venice, Cannes and Berlin had their own film festivals, it was high-time Rome had one too. He was trying to leave his mark on the city.

 Mr Veltroni's task would have been more appreciated by the Roman tax payers had he turned his attention to the pot-holed streets, crazy-paved pavements and the over-flowing rubbish skips.

All problems which have not been solved by successive mayors either. 

When I came to Rome in 1998, other than the serious worries: would I find a job, what kind of contract would I get;  I was  concerned about whether I would be able to keep up my weekly film going habit. I reasoned that as a big international city Rome would have films showing in original version just as other big cities ( I was thinking Paris and Brussels) did and still do. 

I soon realised that this wasn't the case. There were two cinemas that showed films in original version: the 'Pasquino', in Trastevere which had two screens, and the 'Quirinetta', a converted theatre which had only one projection room. The pickings were slim indeed. I was  reduced to the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Thus I saw 'The Gladiator' in the 'Pasquino's' largest room squeezed into a tight seat, squashed against my neighbour's coat while trying to share the armrest.

 The 'Quirinetta', site of a couple of 'Harry Potter's' and 'Star Wars: The phantom Menace', was more comfortable. The seats were of  the old-fashioned puffed up cushion variety on a wood and metal frame, and the screen was revealed as two old and now frayed burgundy velvet curtains parted. The room was vaulted and there was a slight echo. Once, in its hey-day. circa the fifties it would have been an elegant theatre. 

 In the early 2000s they closed down. The first to go was the 'Pasquino'. In a desperate attempt to buck up numbers the owners had opened a small bar, but had omitted to get a proper license. The bar was closed down by the authorities and shortly afterwards the 'Pasquino' closed forever. In 2015, a protest sit-in on the premises was staged in an attempt to get the cinema re-opened. It failed.

The 'Quirinetta' followed suit soon after. Too much competition from out of town cineplexes and not enough custom were the reasons.

 The situation now appeared desperate for regular followers of versione originale films.

Then hope appeared, a large four screen cinema decided to project films in their original version. This was a cinema with a fully operative sound system, good quality screens and small snack bar attached where one could drink a glass of wine while waiting for a viewing.

 In fact, it was such an important venue, that it was chosen to show case some of the films in Rome's first film festival.

This was the 'Metropolitan' at the end of Via del Corso, slap bang in the center with easy access from the nearby metro station on piazzale Flaminio. Then a smaller cinema stopped projecting in Italian and started to show original films too. This was the 'Nuovo Olimpia', off Via del Corso, near the Chamber of Deputies, and right next to an important bus terminus on Piazza San Silvestro. Not only could we see films in their original English, but in French, German, Turkish, Chinese....

Of course, it couldn't last. The landlord of the 'Metropolitan' hiked up the rent. The cinema closed after petitions and protests failed. The Golden Age of foreign language films was over. The Dark Ages were upon us.

Valliantly, despite threats that it might close the 'Nuovo Olimpia' has soldiered on, and is still open to date. The nearby Piazza San Silvestro has had a massive makeover and is no longer a bus terminus. 

Other cinemas sometimes show a film in original, usually a potentially high-grossing film, look up the 'Barberini' or the 'Lux' in local papers or online at 'Wanted in Rome' or 'Trovacinema'.

The 'Fiamma', near Rome's Central station, Termini. from time to time will show original versions in all of its three rooms. Every now and again something will go wrong and the projection will be interrupted: the picture may be blurred, the sound may be out of synch with the picture... It's always an adventure going to the 'Fiamma'. 

Over time, my appetite for films has declined a combination of little free time and too much of a hassle getting to the cinema. After all, with the rise of DVDs and BluRays, and improved home viewing equipment, staying at home to see a film only six months after its original release is just as fun, and usually more comfortable.

Another possibility is to see the films in their dubbed versions. I remember once complaining to an Italian acquaintance about the dearth of choice in original version film, he exclaimed, "but why don't you see the films in Italian. Italian dubbing artists are the best in the world." I was dubious. he warmed to his theme, "indeed, they are so good their performances are even better than the original."