Jewish?


When Caterina met Gianfilippo's mother, she was quickly dismissed. Later Daniela Germano commenting on the events paraphrased the dismissal as "Leave Jew". Is Caterina jewish or was that just a metaphor for the "unwashed "

reply

Her father's name is Iacovoni so I'd have thought so.

reply

<<Her father's name is Iacovoni ..>>

Please elaborate. How is that seen as a Jewish name in Italy?

reply

[deleted]

[deleted]

I think Iacovoni is roughly equivalent to the English name Jacobs, which could be considered a Jewish name. Jacob was the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, and his alternate name was Israel. The twelve tribes descended from his twelve sons populated the area in the Middle East that includes the modern nation named for him.

reply

I really don't think it has anything to do with hypothetical jewish origins in Caterina's family.
I didn't watch the english edition, but what Daniela exactly says in italian in the original edition is:"Figuriamoci quella snobbona di mia zia quando Gianfilippo gliel'ha presentata", which means "Imagine that snob aunt of mine when Gianfilippo introduced (Caterina) to her".
And then "Capirai, quella é una iena..."raus Juden!", "That woman's a hyaena..."raus Juden!" (known german expression, conveying the will to clean up the country from all jews). Now, I don't think this very last part meant to imply something about Caterina's origins, I'd rather say the girl used this expression to mock her aunt's very strict and conceited attitude. Through it, I think Virzì wants to show the anachronistic, die hard devotion for fascism and the character of Mussolini this lady shares with her fellow members of the italian upper-class (or at least a part of it). Something we can spot elsewhere in the movie, the wedding dinner for instance. Of course a young girl who's just willing to make a joke, will just mix everything, german nazism and italian fascism, given their bonds during the war, hence in collective imagination afterwards.
Besides, Daniela's father is a right-wing deputee, what in Italy is often identified with fascism (just like left-wingers are commonly called "communists", no matter how moderate they are).
I'd be curious to see how this all has been transferred to the english edition.

reply