Moonstruck

I'm at home watching one of my favourite movies, Moonstruck (1987). (I wonder if it's a sign of my age that I now spend more time watching MGM movies than the other Sky channels?) Moonstruck is sooooo Italian. I'm sure I know every character personally, and those that I don't are bound to be family members from Brooklyn, New York, that I just haven't met yet. The accents, the mannerisms, the family businesses, the arguments, the interior decorating, the Sicilian nonna 'miraculously' recovering from her death bed once she hears that her golden boy son is getting married ... I almost wonder whether or how non-Italians can enjoy the nuances of this movie as much as we do.

The soundtrack is amazing, with Dick Hyman doing a great job capturing the southern Italian spirit and including some music popular with Italians in the 1960s (I love Vikki Carr's tortured tones in It Must Be Him). So join me in singing Dean Martin's That's Amore ... you know you want to!

In Napoli where love is king
When boy meets girl here's what they say

When the moon hits you eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore
When the world seems to shine like you've had too much wine, that's amore
Bells will ring ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling, and you'll sing "Vita bella"
Hearts will play tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay like a gay tarantella

When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fasula, that's amore
When you dance down the street with a cloud at your feet, you're in love
When you walk down in a dream but you know you're not dreaming, signore
Scuzza me, but you see, back in old Napoli, that's amore