Il est plus facile pour un chameau...

It's difficult to believe that no one has seen fit to comment on this charmer - that word does double duty here for it's equally applicable to triple-threat writer-director-star Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in her first time at bat on bullhorn. Tedeschi is a fine actress and has illuminated many films with her quiet, understated beauty that leaves most of the 'glamor' girls dead in the water. She doesn't make it easy on herself opting for an intricate storyline requiring both a large cast and ensemble playing and allegedly basing her screenplay loosely on her own life. If I were producing a screenplay that called for an actress who could convey guilt about being very wealthy convincingly I'd be unable to come up with anyone other that Bruni-Tedeschi. At close to forty she can still do gauche and make it come out charming and more than this she is able to extract equally fine performances from the likes of Yvan Attal, Denis Podalydes, Chiara Mastroianni and not least her own mother playing the mother of the fictional-but-lightly-based-on-Valeria herself Federica. She brings it off superbly and takes her rightful place alongside such other distinguished female directors as Agnes Varda, Diane Kurys, Ann Fontaine, and Agnes Jouai. Roll on her second trip to the plate. 8/10