bibliub

Class struggle, environmental awareness, critique of industrialization, love, cultural mores. all explored with quirky elegance and utmost kindness for two young characters who are trying to find their way in the world, and to each other. heartbreaking and hilarious. sandrelli and gemma bring to life rare moments of non-pathetic tenderness. the writing is sharp and on point, the directing minimalist. i don't know why this film is not more present on the radar. perhaps it loses steam in translation; perhaps it's because there are no heroes, only people, and one single, desperate grand gesture ...

The setting: the italian countryside the characters: ridiculously enthusiastic professors, grad students, and a talented, bold adolescent who transcribes schoenberg and reads voraciously (+ various caricatures of italians) the dialogue: quotes from seventeenth century french drama, analysis of heraclitus and hegel, which fall entirely too short to add anything, but are thrown there to display how smart these people are how much more pretentious and grotesquely bourgeois can you get? to make things worst, the guy who is supposed to be the exotic american everyone falls for has the charisma of a paper bag, and is a terrible actor the actor who plays the teenage character is the anchor, but the ship is too heavy for him alone to save it