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The eight mountains”, the film taken from Cognetti's novel of the same name, reaches top place in the classification of the Italian titles most widely seen on European markets in 2023
by Elisabetta Brunella
 After publishing the first available data on the dissemination of Italian cinema in European cinemas during 2023 (see the article in DGT online informer no. 221), MEDIA Salles has continued to collect information on the territories that have been making known their statistics on the most widely viewed films in the past year.
It thus emerges that “Le otto montagne”/“The eight mountains”, a favorite of spectators in several European countries, has come top in the rankings of films from the Bel Paese even on large markets such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
In the British rankings, the film based on Cognetti's novel is followed closely by “L'immensità”/The immensity”, while “Eo” is in third place.
A similar situation - with “The eight mountains” in first place and “The immensity” in second - also occurred in Germany and Denmark, countries where "Nostalgia" came in third place.
“The eight mountains” also ranked first in the Netherlands and in the Czech Republic, while it gained second position in the Slovak Republic, as well as in Spain.
In Latvia “The eight mountains” is sixth, immediately preceded by “The immensity”. Also significant is the success of cultural content such as "L’ombra di Caravaggio”/”Caravaggio’s shadow” which was placed fourth.
Michele Placido's film is fifth in the Czech Republic and Spain, third in the Slovak Republic, fourth in Germany and even first in Hungary, following a tradition that often sees productions dedicated to great Italian artists in places of honour.
Italian co-productions that reached the top of the podium were “The tiger's nest” in the Slovak Republic (while in the Czech Republic it came second) and “Mafia mamma”, champion in Latvia.
Also significant was the success of "Ennio", which gained tenth place in the Czech Republic and fifth in Hungary. The first available data, although still provisional, shows that “Ennio” has gained a good position on the German market too.
Finally, releases of "classic" films produced or co-produced by Italy were particularly appreciated also in 2023.
We see this above all in the Irish top ten, which, in third place, presents "Suspiria", in fourth place "La dolce vita", in fifth place "Otto e mezzo", in seventh place "Amarcord", in eighth place "Cinema Paradiso". But also in Great Britain, among the top ten Italian films, "Il disprezzo”/”Contempt" appears, in Spain "Cinema Paradiso", in Hungary "Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo”/”The good, the bad and the ugly”.
Among the most loved Italian films there are films directed by Paolo Sorrentino in Hungary (“Youth”), in the Czech Republic (“La grande bellezza”/”The great beauty”) and in the Slovak Republic (“Loro”, “Youth” and “The great beauty”).
This is an interesting and also gratifying phenomenon, but which does not fail to raise the doubt that the prestige enjoyed by Italian cinema on a global level is still largely linked to the glories of the past. |
Bardonecchia is the westernmost town in Italy, on the French border. Located at 1,300 m. above sea level in the Alps, it is a well-known ski resort, which hosted several competitions during the 2006 Winter Olympics, but also a busy, summer tourist venue: at peak times, the number of tourists is ten times the number of inhabitants, rising from three thousand to thirty thousand.
