by Valerio Baroncini
From the gold rush to the stroboscopic seventies, from steroid-flavored beaches to the Silicon Valley of Money 2.0, how many times has California been the land of triumph, of dreams, of victory? And how much art – from songs (think the Mamas & the Papas or more recently Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg) to movies (from Eden Valley to Lady Bird) – has been marked by California. Yet California is not what many of us imagine it to be. And Francesco Costa, journalist deputy director of the Post, talks about it tonight at the Casale Cineforum, in the park of the Villa Mansardi in Castelfiumenese, a small village in the Imola hills (talk at 8pm, screening of the Oscar-winning film Nomadland at 9.30pm, info 389 2786856).
Costa, this takes us straight to America. In his latest book ‘California’ he talks about ‘decalifornisation’: in fact, many people are starting to leave. Is this the end of the dream?
“It is a real trend that is different from economic success. It is not a situation of crisis, where there is a lack of work, where wages are low. However, not everyone benefits from that success. The middle class suffers the most: a salary of 100,000 euros is not enough, the cost of houses is prohibitive and in the end many people leave.”
The issue of housing and the right to housing is also extremely topical in Italy: many cities have been crushed by short-term rental bubbles and for residents, finding decent housing is a mirage.
“It is not easy to make a comparison between California and Italy, because we are much more urbanized and our urban planning problems are different. But something tells us: cities like Rome, Milan or Bologna that have the best conditions to live and work are ultimately also the cities that have housing problems”.
What is the reason?
“Always an imbalance. Between demand and supply of houses”.
Frances McDormand’s film ‘Nomadland’ talks about new nomads who do not have a home and wander from region to region in the parks of the United States.
“Americans have a different relationship with home. Even if they change it 10-11 times in their lifetime, they move easily. Nomadland begins with a layoff and follows the movement of the protagonist and other new nomads. The film partly romanticises the process, where the troubles of addiction are not shown, but it shows us the cruelty behind social laws. America is like that.”