Italian for Beginners
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Movie Reviews of Italian for Beginners
Movie Review: "I am used to being alone"
Summary: 5 Stars
I usually watch a lot of foreign films, but if I recall correctly, this is the first time I have experienced a Danish production. The first thing that surprised me was that the movie was created using handheld cameras and natural light, but it took me not time at all to get used to it, and the excellent story, together with the inspired acting, enthralled me until the ending titles.
Andreas (Berthelsen) is a pastor that arrives at a small Danish town to replace an old a stubborn colleague that has been suspended from his chores. Andreas lost his wife a short while ago, and is having a difficult time coping with this; now he is trying to get used to this new life and reconstruct what was shattered in the recent past. In this small town he meets a fascinating set of characters, all of them with personal problems, dreams and fears, and the relationship among all these people is what makes this one of the best movies in the last few years.
Finn (Kaalund) is the manager of the restaurant located in the soccer stadium of the town, and he has a "small" attitude problem that usually ends up with the customers being mistreated and expelled from the establishment. That is why Jorgen (Gantzler), Finn's best friend, is forced by management to fire him, which is no easy task. Besides the three men, the cast incorporates Karen (Jorgensen), a hairdresser with an alcoholic mother, Olympia, a clumsy woman who works at a bakery, and Giulia, a beautiful waitress that only speaks Italian.
All these characters converge, lead by different reasons, in an Italian class. In that place, they can be themselves and as each one of them starts coming out of their shell they learn the value of those things that are important in life. One of the main strengths of this film has to do precisely with how it spends considerable time showing us the feelings each character experiences and the interaction among these people, through precise and insightful dialogues.
This is one of those movies that prove that you do not need a huge budget to produce a film of excellent quality. What you do need is a great script, with actors that understand what they are supposed to do; the rest comes naturally. I am very happy to recommend this movie, and I am already trying to find more Danish films so I can verify if they follow the same pattern as this one in terms of excellence.
Movie Review: the goal: a trip to venezia, the city of the lovers ...
Summary: 5 Stars
six people shoveling to become free - killing the oppression made of job-trouble or obligations to parents. how to come out the shells, forget uneasiness, blow up the chains of tatooed behaviour? it's the only way to build a bridge to a helping hand. the choleric, aggressive waiter of a soccer restaurant, hal finn, becomes soft under the hair-washing hands of carmen. carmen first has to give an overdose morphine to her suffering mother, before the hairdresser gets free for a new love. the shy white-collar hotel-employee jørgen mortesen enormously jumps over the shades of his timidity, making a proposal of marriage to giulia, the vivid italian waitress, ignoring all (only danish?) social boundary-lines. pastor andreas, carrying a job, who is not adequately functioning, first needs a maserati to make compensation to his vulnerable self-reliance. in a second step he discovers more satisfaction in helping (and loving) the clumsy, nearly illiterate baker's assistant olympia. though the movie starts with obstructive parents and surrealistic funeral scenes, with strangeling jobs and a loneliness, no one seems to have the capability to scare away - all the six persons converge in an italian-language evening-class - and they change to the sunny side of the street, helping each other to reach that goal: a trip to venezia, the city of the lovers ...Movie Review: Interesting and deep
Summary: 5 Stars
Given the low-budget ethos of this film, it succeeds in being interesting and deep, in terms of social relationships and social issues. Rather than the heavy musical cues and editing that guide us through a Hollywood movie, this film takes us gently and realistically into the lives of 6 people who try to work out their problems by interacting with others, some of whom just happen to be in the local council Italian class.
We get a realistic view of Dutch society in this film, along with the problems that people in that society encounter. This sort of everyday cultural information does not appear in the usual cinema event. As the problems develop into temporary solutions, we get close to the characters, and identify them as normal people, looking for understanding and companionship.
The Italian lessons are a link rather than a major part of the film. They are the almost accidental meeting point of the characters, and lead to the visit to Vienna which occurs at the end. In this setting, solutions appear, and we leave the characters in peace.
As with many comedies, this film has a deeper social message about the lives and conditions of the participants. It's nice to join them in an investigation of the human condition that is not dictated by heavyweight stars and huge, commercially-financed budgets.
Movie Review: Outstanding comedy/drama from Denmark
Summary: 5 Stars
From Denmark comes "Italian for Beginners", one of the sweetest, wisest and most enjoyable romantic comedy-dramas I have seen in a long time. Intellectually, it is closer to a dessert than a main course, but all desserts are not equal. You'll fondly remember this one. Like most romantic movies, its plot is rather farfetched. Its characters, though, are down to earth and believable - ordinary people trying to make their way through life's ups and downs with a little dignity.In a small Danish city, six people find their lives in disarray for various reasons - two are caring for aged, ungrateful parents, one has recently lost his wife, another is about to lose his job, etc. They are not so much hopeless as they are desperate for hope. Their lives intersect in unexpected ways in an unlikely setting - a course in Italian at a local school.
Compared to its American counterparts, "Italian for Beginners" a small, sparse movie. Some viewers may not relate to the characters because none of them are larger than life. For me, their very ordinariness provides much of the movie's charm, because it makes their falling in love all the more special.
The film is in Danish and Italian with English subtitles.
GRADE: A
Movie Review: The reviewers below miss the point of Dogme 95
Summary: 5 Stars
This isn't so much a review as a response to the negative reviews below which successfully demonstrate that the authors have no idea: 1) That this movie was bound by the rules of Dogme 95, the Danish "anti-slickness" movement with which it is associated; 2) What the rules of Dogme 95 are; and 3) That without this knowledge they have no grounds to criticize the movie. First of all, all Dogme 95 films are to use cards for their credits. All Dogme 95 films are shot with only hand-held cameras. All Dogme 95 films are shot on the lowest budgets available.There is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie (which does indeed happen to be shot on video). The performances and script are natural and understated. The plot may not be big on cinematic brushstrokes and life-changing events (another feature of Dogme 95: no "artificial" events are to be introduced, as the characters are expected to follow the patterns of their daily lives), but it is big on believability. And the direction is also suitably subtle.
If you enjoy a movie that is fundamentally human and, in its small way, life-affirming, try this out. Just know in advance that it is not filmed like an overblown Spielberg film.