I might never have stumbled upon this, if not my good friend, the film connoisseur A. had suggested that we see it together. Yes, I am not a general fan of "romantic comedies", only if they are set in a somewhat different environment. It should be something like Barakah meets Barakah or or Bread and Tulips.
This is romance among middle-aged, a pledge to have the courage to run away from duties and routine and to dare something new. Rosalba, a middle-aged housewife, is abandoned on a rest stop during a family vacation. First after some time her husband notices that she is actually missing. In the meantime Rosalba decides to head back on her own, but she turns to Venice instead. Yes, forget Paris - Venezia is the city of love. Here she meets a handful of lovable characters, a sad waiter in a Chinese restaurant, an anarchist florist and a woman that applies holistic massage. Rosalba experiences to be esteemed for what she is really is. Instead of being a clumsy housewife she becomes a complete person. After a short come back to her former life she follows her heart. Well done, Rosalba. That's how it should be.
This is pure entertainment, charming and witty. Feel good, hopefully not only for the aged, but hopefully for any generation.
I wonder if Soldini had Pane, amore e fantasia in mind, when he thought for a title of this film.
Bruno Ganz seems to become specialist for seducing older women, as he plays a similar role in the Swiss production Giulias Verschwinden.
In one scene the sad Bruno Ganz watches a flower bouquet that Rosalba gave him before returning to her former life. He watches the leaves falling down -- an allusion to Truffaut's Domicile conjugal? Maybe there are more quotations and allusions that an alert viewer might notice.
8/10
This is romance among middle-aged, a pledge to have the courage to run away from duties and routine and to dare something new. Rosalba, a middle-aged housewife, is abandoned on a rest stop during a family vacation. First after some time her husband notices that she is actually missing. In the meantime Rosalba decides to head back on her own, but she turns to Venice instead. Yes, forget Paris - Venezia is the city of love. Here she meets a handful of lovable characters, a sad waiter in a Chinese restaurant, an anarchist florist and a woman that applies holistic massage. Rosalba experiences to be esteemed for what she is really is. Instead of being a clumsy housewife she becomes a complete person. After a short come back to her former life she follows her heart. Well done, Rosalba. That's how it should be.
This is pure entertainment, charming and witty. Feel good, hopefully not only for the aged, but hopefully for any generation.
I wonder if Soldini had Pane, amore e fantasia in mind, when he thought for a title of this film.
Bruno Ganz seems to become specialist for seducing older women, as he plays a similar role in the Swiss production Giulias Verschwinden.
In one scene the sad Bruno Ganz watches a flower bouquet that Rosalba gave him before returning to her former life. He watches the leaves falling down -- an allusion to Truffaut's Domicile conjugal? Maybe there are more quotations and allusions that an alert viewer might notice.
8/10
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