CINEMA: FELLINI GO HOME!

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILMS HAVE LOST THEIR ONCE BIG U.S. AUDIENCE. PERCHE? (SUBTITLE: WHY?)

For some foreign filmmakers, 1996 was a very good year. Hong Kong's John Woo teamed with John Travolta for Broken Arrow ($70 million at the domestic box office). Jan de Bont, who got his start shooting Dutch art films, helmed the whirlwind Twister ($242 million). Roland Emmerich, from Germany, had a little number called ID4 ($305 million). Foreign directors, America thanks you!

But for directors who work in foreign languages, America has scant appreciation. Even with spillover grosses from the 1995 Italian hit Il Postino, last year's foreign-language earnings amounted to less than 1% of the total U.S. box office. This...

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