Welcome to the South

Alberto Colombo, a postmaster in the Brianza area of Lombardy, fakes a disability to get a transfer to Milan. Caught, he is punished with a posting to Castellabate, a small town in the south. He arrives with protective clothing and a stack of prejudices. Luca Miniero directed. It adapts the 2008 French comedy Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, moving that film's north-south prejudice to Italy. Claudio Bisio plays Alberto, with Alessandro Siani and Angela Finocchiaro in the cast. It runs 106 minutes and opened in Italy on 1 October 2010. The trouble comes because Alberto has been telling his wife Silvia awful lies about the south; when she visits he has to answer to her and to his new friends at once. The film is dedicated to Angelo Vassallo, an Italian mayor killed for his work against organised crime. A sequel, Benvenuti al Nord, followed in 2012. Who it is for: viewers who like light Italian comedy and culture-clash humour. Who it is not for: anyone looking for originality. It follows the French original scene by scene and does not try to add anything.