Anche libero va bene

This movie was re-released in Pathe theatres, Amsterdam as part of the Summer Films special screening. I read very good reviews of it and was interested to see it. Even if did not turn out to be what the reviews say (that happens quite often) I would had been fine.

The story is shown through the eyes of 11 year old boy Tommi (Alessandro Morace), who stays in an urban lower middle class dis-jointed family with his unemployed cameraman father Renato (Kim Rossi Stuart) and sister Viola (Marta Nobili). His mother Stefania (Barbora Bobulova) has left the family for some other man. Even in the dis-functional family where it is difficult to meet expenses and ends, Renato with all his frustrations, still loves the kids a lot. Parallel to this are two sub-plot running – one, where Renato wants his son Tommi to be a swimmer, whereas Tommi wants to become a football player. Second, the school life of Tommi – where he tries to seek friendship and love with his classmates. When Stefania suddenly appears one day out of no where back to the family – after a bit of test and trials – there is hope, happiness in the family. But again suddenly she disappears and leaves behind the traumatic family in despair.

This is the first time directorial debut of the very good looking famous Italian actor Kim Rossi Stuart. After his long acting career he does great justice to his new role as a Director. I read that he was not suppose to act in this movie, and only direct the movie; but just 15 days before the shooting – when the selected actor left the movie, the producers persuaded Kim to take the role of the father. Kim looks stunning, very pleasing to the eyes and has acted efficiently well. I think after a long time, I personally have seen some real good looks on screen. But I will leave it on girls and women to add more.

But the movie belongs wholly and solely to Alessandro Morace. First movie and he lives the role of Tommi as no other kid could have ever done justly. He shows all the range of emotions so naturally as if this role was written keeping him in mind. He is magnificent. Equally good in their small roles are Marta Nobili and Barbora Babulova.

In the beginning 15 minutes of the movie Director / actor Kim sets the tone by exposing to audience scenes that would make the point – of what to expect from the movie so people are not deceived into any flamboyant commercial stuff.

This movie is jointly written by four writers with Kim being one of them. There are so many numerous scenes in the movie that make you feel – oh alas, I hope I was part of this family and character. They are so wonderfully filmed. The touching moments moist your eyes and linger with you even after the movie is over.

Good music, good editing, good cinematography! Great cinema! Well done. If I had not gone to see this – I would had missed a gem.

(Stars 7.75 out of 10)

Tommi, 11 years old, lives with his older sister Viola and his father Renato. At the beginning of the film we don't know where Stefania, their mother, is; but she appears again, and, even we came to know that in the past she hasn't been able to stay in the family and grow up her children, this time it seems she came to stay. Viola is happy, Tommi is more skeptical. Time will tell who was right. "Libero" is a defensive soccer player who doesn't have a specific opponent; Tommi, who is a very good swimmer but doesn't like to swim, at the end of the film says "Anche libero va bene" ("Even libero is OK"), when finally his father agrees to send him to a soccer school, even he'd better be a midfielder. This is a difficult film, dealing with the over-discussed family subject in an ordinary, but still very different way, aided by a superb interpretation of all the four leading characters, with a special mention for the first-time-on-screen Alessandro Morace as Tommi. Barbora Bobulova could be the best Italian actress if she was born in Italy (but we adopt her with great pleasure), and Kim Rossi Stuart, for his debut as director, is also convincing as Renato, even if he had to substitute at the last moment Sergio Rubini, who was the original choice. Probably the best Italian film of 2006.

I think this debut by Kim Rossi Stuart is the true best Italian movie of the season 2005/2006. It's even better than "Romanzo criminale" (Michele Placido) and "Il Caimano" (Nanni Moretti). It's so touching and subtle it doesn't seem a debut, but we must remind that Kim Rossi Stuart was already quite experienced as an actor.

The acting is phenomenal. Alessandro Morace (the lone Tommi) is the best child actor I've ever seen: he's natural, and he has got magnificent, sad eyes who can talk more than a speech. And Marta Nobili (the joyful Tommi's sister, Viola) doesn't confine herself to simper graciously as Dakota Fanning usually does. Kim Rossi Stuart and Barbora Bobulova are good too, but they were only confirmations.

Cinematography and score are accurate and remarkable, considering that this film's budget was very small.

And, let me say, Kim Rossi Stuart doing the ironing wearing only a pair of slips and a close-fitting T-shirt is a fantastic sight.

Through a look at the life of a crumbling lower middle class family in Rome, first-time director Kim Stuart Rossi takes a surprisingly honest look at a number of issues, like divorce, and the role of males in contemporary Western European society. The movie is true to life in the best sense: the characters are very similar to people you know. Rossi Stuart also stars in the movie, playing a single father, living precariously as a cameraman, and having to take care of a young son and a teenage daughter (his irresponsible wife is in and out of the house, as the son explains to a rich neighbor and friend). The movie is shown through the eyes of the shy son, but I think the real protagonist is the father, a great dramatic creation of actor-director Rossi. He is a man with an explosive temper, always getting into trouble and thinking the whole world is against him, but he is not a bad person per se; it's just that his hyper masculine values seem to hold less and less value in today's society. Barbora Bolubova, playing the troubled wife, is also very fine. The end is a bit despairing, though as he says in the end, he has been down before, but has always bounced back.

This film is about a family of four and told through the character of Tommi, an 11-year old boy. His sister is a nuisance, and he has trouble getting friends in school.

The mother of the family has some psychological issues and disappears for weeks, then returns for a few weeks of nuclear family bliss.

The father is a poor, stressed out cameraman struggling to find work. He goes from loving and caring role-model-father to angry, rampaging mad in seconds.

The tensions between all four members of the family are really done well, the film is believable and very emotional. Both adults and children in this story give great acting performances.