I decided I would like to be Italian after seeing the movie Moonstruck a number of years ago. Since then, when the weather turns dark and cold, I blow the dust off my DVD case and subsequently get lost in the love lives of each of the characters, and start to believe in the power of a full moon to draw lovers together. The film manages to be at turns dramatic and beautiful and hilarious. My favorite parts:
- The unforgettable Cher in her Oscar-winning role as Loretta Castorini slaps Nicholas Cage, her fiancé’s brother and tells him to “Snap out of it!” when he declares his love for her.
- Rose Castorini, played by Olympia Dukakis, tells her father-in-law as he takes his full dinner plate to his bevy of pooches, “Old man! If you give those dogs any more of my food, I’m doing to kick you till you’re dead!”
- Nicholas Cage gives his histrionic speech in the bottom of his New York City bakery blaming his brother for the loss of his hand while using a meat slicer. When Cher’s character says that is wasn’t his brother’s fault, Nick replies: “I don’t care! I ain’t no freakin’ monument to justice! I lost my hand! I lost my bride! Johnny has his hand! Johnny has his bride! You want me to take my heartache, put it away and forget?”
While I may not actually ever become Italian, the library affords me the opportunities to get as close as possible:
- Beginning in January, the First Floor will host a language club, Italian for Beginners, on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, from 6:30-7:30. No registration required.
- The library has countless cookbooks devoted to Italian cookery.
- Mango Languages can be accessed from the library’s website from your home computer. Mango is an interactive way to learn over 20 languages of the world, including Italian.
- We have other Italian language learning materials in a variety of formats.
- The library has hundreds of items in Italian, including books, magazines, music CDs and feature film DVDs.
–Bonnie
Eleventh Stack 