''Passione'' is a 2010 documentary film directed by

John Turturro John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...

. It was filmed on location in

Naples, Italy Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. The film was released in the United States in June 2011.

Plot

''Passione'' chronicles the rich Neapolitan musical heritage, tracing the influences of European, African and Arabic cultures, while touching on the

Canzone napoletana Canzone napoletana (), sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song ( nap, canzona napulitana ), is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well represented b ...

(Neapolitan song) tradition. The film features dozens of contemporary solo performers and ensembles who are currently established on the city's music scene, including Fiorenza Calogero,

Pietra Montecorvino Pietra Montecorvino (born 2 December 1962 in Naples) is an Italian singer and actress. Her real name is Barbara D'Alessandro and her pseudonym is a play on the name of the small town of Pietramontecorvino near Foggia in south-east Italy. She and ...

, James Senese, Peppe Barra,

Fausto Cigliano Fausto Cigliano (15 February 1937 – 17 February 2022) was an Italian singer, guitarist, and actor. Life and career Born in Naples into a humble family, Cigliano approached the music at young age, after having received a guitar as a gift, and ...

, and

Rosario Fiorello Rosario Tindaro Fiorello (born 16 May 1960), known just as Fiorello, is an Italian comedian, singer, radio, and television presenter. Career Fiorello was born in Catania, Sicily, and raised in Augusta, Sicily. He began his career working in tour ...

. The film also explores the city's music history with archival footage and accounts of such historic artists as Enrico Caruso,

Sergio Bruni Sergio Bruni (stage name of Guglielmo Chianese, 15 September 1921 – 22 June 2003) was a popular Italian singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was often called "The Voice of Naples". He was born in the commune of Villaricca, near Naples, Italy ...

Massimo Ranieri Massimo Ranieri (born Giovanni Calone on 3 May 1951) is an Italian singer, actor, television presenter and director. Biography Early life Ranieri was born in Naples ( at Santa Lucia), the fifth of eight children in the family. When he was 10, y ...

, and

Renato Carosone Renato Carosone (; born Renato Carusone; 3 January 1920 – 20 May 2001) was an Italian musician. He was a prominent figure of the Italian music scene in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a modern performer of the so-called ' ...

. ''Passione'' is the fourth film directed by Turturro, who is primarily known for his film and television acting roles. In addition to co-writing the screenplay, he appears on-camera sporadically, serving as

tour guide A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, religio ...

, cultural commentator, and occasional extra in music shoots. Scenes were filmed at

San Domenico Maggiore San Domenico Maggiore is a Gothic, Roman Catholic church and monastery, founded by the friars of the Dominican Order, and located in the square of the same name in the historic center of Naples. History The square is bordered by a street/alle ...

's Square, at

Castel dell'Ovo Castel dell'Ovo ("Egg Castle") is a seafront castle in Naples, located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the Gulf of Naples in Italy. The castle's name comes from a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who had a reputation in ...

, at

Castel Sant'Elmo Castel Sant'Elmo is a medieval fortress located on Vomero Hill adjacent to the Certosa di San Martino, overlooking Naples, Italy. The name "Sant'Elmo" derives from a former 10th-century church dedicated to Sant'Erasmo, shortened to "Ermo" and, ...

and at

Solfatara A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

Critical reception

The film received positive reviews from film critics. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that 89% of professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.2 out of 10.Passione
''Rotten Tomatoes''.

Flixster Flixster is an American social-networking movie website for discovering new movies, learning about movies, and meeting others with similar tastes in movies, currently owned by parent company Fandango. The formerly independent site, allows users ...

. Retrieved 6 September 2012.

Soundtrack and interpreters

* ''Carmela'' ( Mina) * ''Vesuvio'' (Spakka - Neapolis 55) * ''Era de maggio'' (

Avion Travel Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel (also known as Avion Travel) is an Italian musical group, formed in Caserta in 1980. The group was named after a travel agency situated in Caserta. They were discovered by Caterina Caselli. In 2000 the band won the ...

and

Mísia Mísia (born Susana Maria Alfonso de Aguiar, in 1955 in Porto, Portugal) is a Portuguese fado singer. Mísia is a polyglot. Despite singing mostly fado, she has sung some of her songs in Spanish, French, Catalan, English, and even Japanese. ...

) * ''I te vurria vasa (Valentina Ok) * ''Dicitencello vuje'' (Riccardo Ciccarelli) * ''

Malafemmena "Malafemmena" (; "Bad Woman") is a song written by the Neapolitan actor Totò (Antonio de Curtis) in 1951. It has become one of the most popular Italian songs, a classic of the Canzone Napoletana genre, and has been recorded by many artists. Back ...

'' (

and

Lina Sastri Pasqualina "Lina" Sastri is an Italian actress and singer. Life and career Born in Naples, Lina Sastri started acting in amateur dramatics at very young age. She made her professional debut with the theatrical company Teatro Libero, and had her ...

) * ''Maruzzella'' (Gennaro Cosmo Parlato) * ''Comme facette mammeta'' (

, arranged by

Eugenio Bennato Eugenio Bennato (born 16 March 1948) is an Italian folk musician and songwriter. He is the brother of the musician Edoardo Bennato. Biography In 1969, he cofounded the folk band ''Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare'', discovered by the author E ...

) * ''Antica ninna nanna partenope'' (Don Alfonzo) * ''

'O Sole mio "O sole mio" () is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).. The title tran ...

'' (

, M'Barka Ben Taleb) * ''Bammenella'' (

Angela Luce Angela Luce (born 3 December 1938) is an Italian film actress and singer of Neapolitan song. She has appeared in 80 films since 1958. She was born in Naples, Italy. Partial filmography * ''La sposa'' (1958) - Margherita * ''Avventura a Capri'' ...

) * ''Don Raffaè'' (Peppe Barra) * ''Passione'' ( James Senese) * ''Nun te scurda (

Almamegretta Almamegretta are a SKA /rap/dub/world/reggae group from Naples, Italy. Their lyrics are in Napoletano. Their music became quite successful within the European Trip hop scene, leading to collaborations with Massive Attack and Adrian Sherwood, who ...

with Raiz,

, M'Barka Ben Taleb) * ''Tammurriata '' (Peppe Barra,

Max Casella Max Casella (born Maximilian Deitch; June 6, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''The Sopranos'', ''Boardwalk Empire'', ''Vinyl'', '' Cro'' and the voice of Daxter in the ''Ja ...

, M'Barka Ben Taleb) * ''Pistol Packing Mama'' (Al Dexter & His Troopers) * ''Catari (

) * ''Caravan petrol'' ( Fiorello,

) * ''

'' (

, piano) * '' 'A Vucchella'' ( Enrico Caruso) * ''Marechiare'' ( Fernando De Lucia) * ''Faccia Gialla'' (

Enzo Avitabile Vincenzo "Enzo" Avitabile (born 1 March 1955) is an Italian saxophonist, composer and singer-songwriter. He plays a fusion of world music and jazz fusion music, rooted in Neapolitan traditions and characteristic dialect. Born in Naples, Italy, ...

, Bottari, Scorribanda) * ''Canto delle lavandaie del Vomero'' (Daniela Fiorentino, Fiorenza Calogero, Lorena Tamaggio) * ''Dove sta Zazà?'' (

) * ''Indifferentemente'' (

) * ''Sangh'e'' ( James Senese) * ''Napule è'' (

Pino Daniele Giuseppe Daniele (19 March 1955 – 4 January 2015), known as Pino Daniele, was an Italian singer, songwriter and musician. His influences covered a wide number of genres, including pop, blues, jazz, and Italian and Middle Eastern music. Biograp ...

)

References

External links

*
"John Turturro's ''Passione'' Stays True to the Music,"

Irwin Chusid Irwin Chusid (born April 22, 1951 in Newark, New Jersey) is a journalist, music historian, radio personality, record producer, and self-described "landmark preservationist". His stated mission has been to "find things on the scrapheap of history t ...

, ''Film Comment'' (review), Sept.-Oct. 2011 {{John Turturro Films directed by John Turturro Italian documentary films Films about music and musicians 2010 films Films shot in Naples