Italian for Beginners
by Lone Scherfig
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anders W. Berthelsen, Anette Støvelbæk, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Lars Kaalund, Peter GantzlerDirector: Lone Scherfig
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Writer: Lone Scherfig
Producer: Gert Duve Skovlund
Producer: Ib Tardini
Producer: Karen Bentzon
Producer: Lars von Trier
Producer: Marianne Moritzen
Producer: Peter Aalbæk Jensen
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Danish (Original Language); Italian (Original Language); Danish (Published); Italian (Published)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-15
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Movie Reviews of Italian for Beginners
Movie Review: Delightful surprise!
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is not as lighthearted as the picture on the cover of the DVD/VHS attempts to portray. This film was shot like a home movie, using only a handheld video camera with natural lighting. The plot focuses on 6 individuals (3 men, 3 women) whose lives intertwine through a weekly night Italian language class. It is a comedy in the sense that the 3 men and 3 women eventually end up paired with each other, but the movie begins with the life challenges of each of the main characters. We are introduced to the compassionate YOUNG PASTOR, whose schizophrenic wife had recently died. This young pastor applies for a job at a church whose permanent pastor is suffering from the loss of his own wife three years ago. As a result, the old pastor is extremely abusive, has lost his faith in God, and is losing his congregation. YOUNG PASTOR becomes the turning point for the old pastor and his church; under YOUNG PASTOR the congregation grows. YOUNG PASTOR befriends BAKERY GIRL, whose father and estranged mother die. BAKERY GIRL grew up with her abusive father and struggles with her clumsiness (birth defect; prenatal alcohol abuse by her mother). BAKERY GIRL grew up thinking that her mother was an 'Italian' who had left her and her father to be an opera singer in Italy. BAKERY GIRL learns that she has a sister, HAIRDRESSER, at their mother's funeral. HAIRDRESSER grew up with the mother who drank a lot. HAIRDRESSER'S mother was shown hospitalized and endured a lot of pain whimpering for more morphine drip before she died. HAIRDRESSER likes ITALIAN TEACHER, who is an orphan with a temper and is best friends with HOTEL GUY. HOTEL GUY, who is insecure about his abilities, likes an ITALIAN WAITRESS. About 1/3 into the movie, the darkness and tension lightens and the happiness bubbles out. Although the movie is in video format which was annoying to me initially, the characters seemed so real and the acting so amazingly natural that I didn't even remember or care about the format. I became engrossed in the plot and was rooting for the relationships to form between the characters who seem to be so deserving of each other. It is a comedy, not so much as making you laugh, but a comedy that makes you feel good. Each character has flaws, yet their pairings and friendship among the 6 of them bring out the best in all of them. This movie is a delightful surprise. In the beginning I couldn't understand how it could be a comedy, because it started out so dramatic and dark, but at the end, I'm glad that I watched it through. Yes, they all eventually visit Venice which makes the finale even more fun and charming.
Summary of Italian for Beginners
An unforgettable romantic comedy that's earned overwhelming acclaim, ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS is a warm and playful story about seven perfect strangers and the shared journey of discovery that changes each of their lives! In a small, rainy suburb, a mismatched collection of opposites have signed up for an Italian class in hopes of spicing up their lives! Then, as they realize the class offers them more than just language lessons, they join together on a quest to Italy with the renewed desire to pursue the romances of their lives! Once there, these world-weary students who thought there was nothing left to learn from life will get an education that will change everything they know about love!Not your usual lighthearted romance, Lone Sherfig's heartwarming comedy warms the usually chilly Dogme 95 world of prickly eccentrics and damaged souls with a glowing sense of hope and passion. A belligerent restaurant manager, a repressed hotelier, a lonely hairdresser, and a clumsy, childlike bakery clerk are among the lonely thirtysomethings who escape the social disasters and comic chaos of their unfulfilled lives in an Italian-language evening course. It becomes a place to dream and to heal emotional wounds (and they have more than their fair share of scars). Sherfig manages to turn the familiar social landscape of films as The Celebration and The King Is Alive--fractured families, abusive parents, tragic pasts--into a backdrop for romantic comedy. If not exactly profound, Italian for Beginners remains a sweet, hopeful, and affirming tale of eccentrics who find friendship, family, and romance while learning the language of love. --Sean Axmaker
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