Love's Brother

We saw this movie at the Palace Norton Cinema, quite appropriate since it is a movie about Italian culture.

It is about two close brothers, one is painfully socially inept but sweet, and the other is the opposite. This is set in Victoria, Australia, in the olden days, so there are plenty of good old costumes. Its a humourous plot, the brothers are involved with two girls, one fresh of the boat (literally because thats how they travel back then) from Italy, and another who has been Aussiefied. Throughout the movie we see relationships between them break and build.

In the movie is the first time I've heard of the rule of having the eldest sibling married before the younger ones, so I'm not sure if thats Italian culture. This movie also reinforced my view that mail-order brides or arranged marriages will never work. There is an expresso machine and lots of people drinking coffee in the movie, so make sure you bring a nice cup of coffee into the movie so you don't feel left out.

A thoughtful movie, exploring love and culturally identity. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

I personally thought this film was wonderful. For me it was pure enjoyment to watch it. I found it to be a fresh idea with very good young actors. I thought the interchange romance development was very interesting. Giving complexity to the film. Putting one in a different time, 1950's or place, Australia. Surrounded with such amicable characters and so human. The idea of preparing a book of their love while waiting to come to Australia seemed so romantic. Making this film probably more something a romantic person would like to see. There should be more pleasurable films like this one, because it still brings a smile to my face to think of it now. Which must be a good sign. If you like love-films, I can definitely recommend watching and enjoying this splendid film.

There's a first time for everything, including directing a movie, and accomplished Australian scriptwriter (`Shine') Jan Sardi has not disgraced himself here. The plotline is corny (wrong brother's photo sent in marriage broking operation) and the approach stickily sentimental but things are saved by some good casting, quality acting and fine cinematography.

As Angelo, the shyer brother who is looking for a bride from Italy, Giovanni Ribisi (last seen as the doltish husband in `Lost in Translation') combines the intensity of B A Santamaria with a remarkable amount of diffidence. Adam Garcia, hitherto mainly a song and dance man, plays the less screwed up younger brother Gino with abundant artless charm, and they combine very well to give us a picture of two very different but very devoted people. Rosetta the mail order bride, (Amelia Warner) is very beautiful and doesn't say a great deal which adds to her charm of course. There are also some strong performances from supporting players. Silvia de Santis, hair dyed blonde, is very effective as Gino's girlfriend Connie, and John Bluthal does an Italian version of his loveable old man persona. Eleanor Bron has a brief role as the marriage broker – no more improbable than an Italian siren from Liverpool (where Amelia Warner hails from). It was also worth the price of admission to see Barry Otto as a Catholic Priest blessing a newly installed espresso machine.

Andrew Lesnie, responsible for the cinematography in the Lord of the Rings series, gives us one or two unusual camera angles, but by and large keeps things very pretty. He apparently looked at `Il Postino' to get some pointers on how to shoot an `Italian' movie. (That film was actually directed by an Englishman, Michael Radford.) Daylesford, Victoria, and its surrounds are shown to their advantage, certainly more so than the Italian village used for Rosetta's home town. The Italians shown here who migrated to Australia are a jolly lot; most of them seem to think Australia is heaven compared to Italy. The film is set circa 1958 but even 40 years later it looks like they made the right decision. They certainly did wonders for Australian coffee drinking.

I saw this movie at Cinema Paris at Fox Studios when I was in Sydney, Australia. Although the story has been done several times before, it is set amid a community of Italian immigrants in 1950's Australia, which makes it really unique.

Giovanni Ribisi (Angelo) is the only actor I was familiar with before this movie, but I have to say Adam Garcia (Gino) and Amelia Warner (Rosetta) steal the show. And they are both DROP DEAD gorgeous! Performance wise, I liked Sylvia de Santis (Connie) the best!

I loved how the characters evolve during the movie. Angelo seems to be weak and troubled emotionally, but turns out to be surprisingly robust. On the other hand, Gino, the more self-assured brother turns out to be quite vulnerable emotionally.

The music from Stephen Warbeck is wonderful. I especially liked the background music when Rosetta first sees the mural of Italy in the cafe. Andrew Lesnie's cinematography captures the beauty of both Italy and the Australian wilderness. And if these are the types of movies Jan Sardi continues to make, I want to see more.

You have to be a curmudgeon not to like this movie - it is so gentle and warm-hearted.

My husband saw this movie several years ago while on a plane bound for Germany. He has been talking about it ever since and finally tracked it down (Amazon.com), so that he could share it with me. Here in the U.S., the DVD format for this particular movie doesn't work on our DVD players, but we were able to change the DVD region setting in Device Manager on our computer and watch the DVD via laptop (you can only change this setting 4 or 5 times). I am so glad he finally found this movie! It is a real gem - sweet, innocent, and truly entertaining. It is a feast for the eyes as well as the soul. Another reviewer mentioned that Australian movies seem to get a bad rap, often being overlooked. How unfortunate! We would be thrilled if Hollywood would increase production of this type of film. I know other movies written by Jan Sardi have been available here in the States. I don't know why this one is not. That is truly a shame; so many people here are missing a great movie. If you're addicted to big-action crash 'em up, shoot 'em up, sexually explicit, adolescent toilet humor type movies, then this one probably won't appeal to you. However, if, like us, you enjoy gentle, heartwarming upbeat story lines with beautiful cinematography, acting, scenery and music, then be sure to watch this movie. It may even be "il destino"!