REMEMBER ME (Ricordati di me)
Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Roadside Attractions
Grade: B+
Directed by: Gabriele Muccino
Written by: Gabriele Muccino, Heidrun Schleef
Cast: Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Laura Morante, Nicolette Romanoff,
Monica Bellucci, Silvio Muccino
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 8/30/04
Gabriele Muccino, a student of contemporary life in Italy, writes
and directs what he knows. Three years ago, his "The Last Kiss"
was about a man turning thirty who begins to regret that he no
longer feels great passion. His lover's mother, fearful of growing
old, tries to leave her husband. "Remember Me, My Love" could
play like a sequel albeit with a different team of actors, all of
whom are facing problems with their dysfunctional families and
trying to escape in various ways both healthy and self-defeating.
"Ricordati di me," as the pic is known in Italian, has ample
comedy amid its sincere and poignant look at a society which,
though in the shadow of the Vatican appears to challenge its
traditional roots.
The primary focus is on Carlo Ristuccia (Fabrizio Bentivoglio),
a financial broker afflicted with a tense relationships with his
partners, a frustrated novelist, married to Giulia (Laura Morante),
a teacher with ambitions to the acting profession. Carlo's
passion for his wife is simply not there any more (shades of "The
Last Kiss"), and rather than admit that you can't be on a
honeymoon forever, he takes up with an old flame, Alessia
(Monica Bellucci). This is hardly a betrayal since his wife had
already enjoyed two previous affairs. The tension in the
household affects their two teen children, Valentina (Nicoletta
Romanoff), approaching eighteen and willing to put out for a
producer who might get her a part as a dancer in a trashy TV
serial, and Paolo (Silvio Muccino), a shy lad beating himself up
with his low self-esteem and his inability to get the love of his life
to reciprocate.
Director Muccino, using a script he co-wrote with Heidrun
Schleef, evokes considerable sentiment, particularly in the way
his Paolo, who'd do anything to be popular, is crushed when a
couple of dozen teens show up for his birthday party but leave
suddenly when Paolo's supply of hashish runs out. One cannot
help thinking that a more stable relationship between his parents
would have enabled the two teens to be less masochistic, less
attracted to the tinsel pleasures, yet when Carlo and Alessia
rekindle their love and passion, we root for both of them to return
to their own spouses and resume more traditional and
satisfying–if not passionate--family roles.
Yet Muccino does not let his audience leave the theater with
cheap closure. The open-ended conclusion leaves wiggle room
for Carlo to return to his illicit love while enabling young Paolo to
reassess his life and take steps to avoid his self-defeating suck-
ups to his sunshine friends. "Remember Me, My Love" shows us
an Italy that like most of the rest of the western world is going
through changes both upsetting and salubrious, a shaking out of
provincial beliefs and a more incisive reassessment by its
residents of their daily lives.
Not Rated. 125 minutes. © 2004 by Harvey Karten
at harveycritic@cs.com
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