A Casual Discussion of the Characteristics of Italians

No Movies Here, We Must Drive to Padova

We went into Padova to see the new movie Dunkirk.  They have a few times when they have a bargain showing and we take advantage of that.  We also use the free parking under the theatre, but it takes some expert driving as whomever planned the parking never considered the turns one has to make to get in and out.  They are really tight.   American sized cars would get stuck, probably resulting in a for sale sign and keys left in the ignition

The outside of the theatre looks a bit messy as the cement job never received a finishing touch.  Inside it is also total cement.   Darkened by time and all the rain in the winter, it looks like a slum building.   This kind of fits in here as Padova has a lot of  structures built in the 1400's.  People like Galileo and da Vinci were here, for instance.

They have a counter that sells popcorn and the usual drinks and snacks.  I have seen only a few people buying this kind of thing.  It is not Italian to eat during a movie.  I have never seen anyone eating popcorn during a movie, except myself.  I tried to be sneaky and quiet when sticking my hand into the box to get the popcorn, but I could see that I was disturbing people around me when they would glance to see where that scraping noise was coming from.   Italians don't do take away much, including buying something to eat and then walking around with it while you window shop.  At pizza take away places, no one sits there and eats their pizza.  I did this once, and I got a lot of people giving me the eye.   I have learned to check on things now before I make a complete fool of myself.

The soft chairs in this theatre were comfy  complete with  a ring for drinks.  They have moderned up!  Hats off to the owner!  One other theatre that we have used has the smallest chairs!  They are much smaller than any aircraft chairs, much more fitted for a 10 year old kid.  We don't go there anymore.   This is too bad as next door there is an American Burger Joint that has good burgers.  That would make for a real good night out.

One night a week, usually on Wednesday they feature the movies in English, but one would have to go at 9:00 pm.  Since we live a bit far from the theatre, this is not something we have taken advantage of.    My old age is showing here, too.

Movies with lot of action are best for me as I can follow what is being said.  I can process most of the Italian when it comes in a few sentences.  However, when there is a lot of machine gun conversation I struggle.  My wife gets jabbed in the ribs for help.  Sometimes I get lucky and she gives me some assistance.    My Italian friends encourage me to watch movies in Italian at home during the day.  I wish I had the time.  (I am too busy being retired.)

We saw Dunkirk, and I would give it 5 stars.  They made the action part look incredibly real, much like Private Ryan on the beach on D Day.  If you have a chance, go see it, as they really tried to keep it historically correct.  The only thing I could criticise is that the whole process of Dunkirk took many days and the movie made it seem like it was much shorter.  I think they could have shown the small rescue boats going back and forth more than once.  Also it would have been impossible to find the number of German bombers and fighter planes that would be needed to make it as it was.  They did the best with what they had to use.  Wouldn't it have been great to be rich at the end of the war and gather up all the planes, jeeps, cars, and war items, then later rent them out to movie studios for a pile of cash?

Most cinemas are closed during the daytime in Padova.  I think back to life in the states where you could watch anything from late morning to after midnight.  This is not the custom in Italy.    Even if the theatre was open early, no one would go.  Just a few Americans sitting alone in the dark.  Maybe this is partly due to the fact that many Italians work 6 days a week.  Maybe the expense?

One other thing I must mention is that when you buy a ticket, you are assigned a seat.  Nobody wanders around and takes whatever seat they want.  This was strange to me at first.  I remember my two sons wandering down to the first row to see the action.  I also remember a few dropped empty soda cans rolling down from row 50.  No smuggling allowed!

I like going to the movie.  When I was a kid in the 50's  we had what they called a kiddie show on Saturday mornings.  25 cents got you a seat for two movies, usually cowboy westerns and some cartoons.  My parents got a real break for only a quarter, while I saw a lot of Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans with their horses, Trigger and Buttermilk.  Trigger is now stuffed in the Roy Rodger Museum, I am not sure about ol' Buttermilk.  When I see horsemeat for sale here in Padova, I always reflect back to Buttermilk,..... that and Francis the Mule (they have donkey stew here).  Kids would sit in the balcony and then flatten their popcorn boxes and frisbee them during intermission.   Those would fly  a good 25 meters.  If you sat in the lower section you never turned around to look back!  I never frisbeed.

We also never honked our horn when the film broke at the drive in.  We did honk when the guy running the projector went to sleep during intermission and didn't start the projector on time.  I always wish my father had added a spot light on our car so we could play spotty during intermission.  I kind of miss the old days.   Just think what people miss out on these days.
 Ciao!