2016 Italian American Film Festival: Moonstruck

This summer the Italian Cultural and Community Center presents the 2016 Italian American Film Festival. Enjoy four weeks of exciting, controversial and fun, loving Italian American films. All the films will be in English.

Week 1: Moonstruck (1987), Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Week 2: Mean Streets (1973), Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Week 3: Mac (1992), Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Week 4: Good Morning, Babylon (1987), Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Moonstruck (Tuesday, July 12, 2016)
Directed by Norman Jewison, starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, and Olympia Dukakis, (1987 release, 102 minutes).

Led by energetic performances from Nicolas Cage and Cher, Moonstruck is an exuberantly funny tribute to love and one of the decade’s most appealing comedies.

When there’s a full moon over Brooklyn, anything can happen, and everything happens in the neighborhood where widowed bookkeeper Loretta Castorini (Cher) lives.

First, Loretta agrees to marry a man she does not love, Johnny Cammareri (Danny Aiello), simply because he knows how to propose properly. Before the wedding can take place, Cammareri must visit his dying mother in Sicily.

In his absence, Loretta is supposed to try to patch up the differences between Johnny and his brother, bakery operator Ronny Cammareri (Nicolas Cage). Having never forgiven Johnny for indirectly causing the accident that crippled him, Ronny flies into a rage whenever his brother’s name is mentioned. He does, however, fall for Loretta like a ton of bricks.

After a torrid affair, Loretta tries to avoid Ronny out of respect to Johnny, but he’s just too fascinating to resist.

Meanwhile, Loretta’s father (Vincent Gardenia) is fooling around with his mistress Mona (Anita Gillette), while Loretta’s mother (Olympia Dukakis) is wooed by a college professor (John Mahoney). These brief flings are forgiven and forgotten, but there’s still the delicate situation of Loretta being in love with her future brother-in-law.

A now-classic romantic comedy, Moonstruck won Oscars for Cher, Olympia Dukakis, and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley.