By Michael Colford
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Paolo Virzi
Starring: AliceTeghil | Margherita Buy | Sergio Castellitto
Original language title: Caterina va in città
Country: italy
Year: 2005
Running time: 90
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366287/reference
Michael says: “CATERINA IN THE BIG CITY is a sweet little Italian coming-of-age film about a young girl, Caterina, who moves with her parents from a small village in Italy to Rome. In school, she finds herself torn between two girls with famous parents on opposite sides of the political fence. Caterina’s father is a bit of a social climber, hoping to befriend Caterina’s new friends’ parents. Her mother (played by Margherita Buy from HIS SECRET LIFE) is largely unappreciated by her father and seeks solace elsewhere. Meanwhile, there is a young man named Edward who lives across the alley from Caterina who seems to have taken an interest in her from afar.
“It’s refreshing to see this type of coming-of-age film from a young girl’s point of view. The political backdrop was a little obvious and played largely for laughs. However the family dynamics unfolded nicely with strong acting performances by Buy and Sergio Castellitto (as Caterina’s father). Alice Teghil is sweet as the country mouse trying to adapt to the big city and falling in with two opposing camps. The young actor who plays the role of Edward, Zach Wallen, lives in Martha’s Vineyard, and he was present to introduce the film at the Brattle Theatre. He did a respectable job as an amateur actor in his debut film. 3 cats”