Despite winning an Oscar for Best Foreign Film with Cinema Paradiso in 1990, Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore has seemingly fallen off the map that film put him on – as far as Hollywood is concerned that is. Although far from being prolific, Tornatore has continued to release features – both films and documentaries – in his native Italy.

His latest is a semi-autobiographical look back at a family over three generations on the sunny island of Sicily.

In Sicily there’s a town called Bagheria, which is known by the locals as Baarìa. Although three generations of the Torrenuova family are featured in this tale, the main focus is on Peppino (Francesco Scianna); we follow his life from being a child into adulthood. Not only that, but we see how the town itself, and its community, are affected by the ravages of time and history.

Over the years Baarìa and its people go through many changes, the biggest being the fallout from war. Seeing the people he cares about struggle all around him, Peppino becomes politically aware, to the point where he not only joins the Communist party, but becomes positively active in promoting it.

But not everyone is open to the ideas of communism; the wealthy landowners aren’t exactly thrilled and the Mafia aren’t best pleased either. But Peppino has more on his plate than that; sure the Mafia can be a pain, but they’re no worse than the family, friends and neighbours he has to contend with.

Anyone who enjoyed the warm glow that Cinema Paradiso offered won’t be disappointed with this film. If anything, due to the autobiographical elements that Tornatore has used, being more personal makes it that bit more touching.

All the actors involved employ that typically Italian trait of expressing their emotions through their bodies just as much as vocally. More arms are flung around screen than your standard zombie flick. More often or not it’s not what they’re saying that is amusing, simply the way that they are saying it.

It is a piece rich with characters. It may border on using stereotypes, but as they are mostly endearing and certainly not demeaning, it all adds to the overall charm.

Where it slips a little is with the script; it may well have been left out in the sun too long and faded a little. There is just a little too much focus on the one character Peppino; his interactions with family and friends are certainly enjoyable enough, but his dalliances with politics take too much precedence. It would help if they led to something, but all the political paths feel somewhat flat.

It’s also a tad too long. At first there’s a gentle warmth to it, as if flicking through someone else’s family album; sure there are lots of people in it you don’t know, but as you skip through the generations, you start to bond with some of the characters. But after two and a half hours you start to feel like you’ve outstayed your visit somewhat and it must be time to go.

During these cold days and even chillier nights however, Baarìa is the perfect sunny antidote to the winter blues. Just make sure you’ve got plenty of Espresso in, which you can use to enhance the Italian experience, or simply to give you a boost to see you through to the film’s end.