MOVIE REVIEWS |
INTERVIEWS |
YOUTUBE |
NEWS
|
EDITORIALS | EVENTS |
AUDIO |
ESSAYS |
ARCHIVES |
CONTACT
|
PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME
Sunday, April 1, 2012
MOVIE REVIEW
The Salt Of Life (Gianni e le Donne)
A Man Isolated By His Kindness And Desires
Gianni Di Gregorio as Gianni, under the watchful eyes of on screen mother
Valeria de Franciscis Bendoni in Mr. Di Gregorio's comedy "The Salt Of Life".
Zeitgeist Films
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Sunday, April 1,
2012
Billed as a sequel to his fine 2008 frolic
"Mid-August
Lunch", Gianni Di Gregorio's new comedy "The Salt Of Life" is
precisely titled. If variety is the spice of life, its flavors marinating
through time, then salt is the bitter wound that spikes the heart, and in this
case it's the film's director, star and co-writer whose character feels the
sting. Mr. Di Gregorio's witty, wry comedic story of a man Gianni (Mr. Di
Gregorio) looking for a new lease on life and love is bitter sweet, affecting
and endearing.
In Trastevere, Rome, a put-upon Gianni is still at the beck and call of his
affectionate nuisance mother (the wonderful Valeria de Franciscis Bendoni) and
at 60-something he's an errand-boy for Valeria (Valeria Cavalli), a beautiful
young neighbor whose dog he routinely walks. Alfonso (Alfonso Santagata),
a good friend and lawyer, tells Gianni, a married man and father, to get out and
smell the roses and live a little: after all, an old geezer in town is having a
little affair with a corner street grocery clerk. This nugget of
information leads Gianni to evaluate himself: at 60 is he still noticeable to
the ladies?
More sharply executed and less free-flowing and intimate than "Mid-August
Lunch", "The Salt Of Life" is a colder film, a stark look at an older man
trapped by loneliness and isolated by his own acts of kindness. Gianni
gives so selflessly and is relentlessly praised and taken for granted by the
women in his life, led by his mother. Yet his heart is empty.
Sometimes Gianni stands forlorn and unhappy. Gianni drinks and daydreams,
but most of all he simply wants a woman to recognize him for who he is as a
person, not for what he does. Gianni is surrounded by women, almost all of
whom dwarf him with their patronizing of him, viewing him as a grandfather or
figure of irrelevance -- except for when it comes to fixing a television that
goes on the blink.
Each of the major women in the film appear to be inordinately satisfied and
happy with life, and not involved with men in particular, furthering their
eligibility to Gianni. Somehow, Gianni is tentative, at times a spectator
in his own pedestrian and petite life dramas.
"The Salt Of Life", which expanded its theatrical release to additional U.S.
cities on Friday, is a clever reverse on the issue that women the world over ask
themselves in a sexist, ageist and hyper image-conscious society: "am I still
seriously viable to men as a emotional and romantic partner once my forties and
fifties are in the rear-view mirror?" The tricky dance Mr. Di Gregorio
employs here is to almost exclusively show women 20-30 years his junior as a
barometer answer to the $64,000 question of viability, as opposed to women his
own age -- an implicit ageism in itself -- made so when considering the false
notion, held by many, that the spice of life isn't ordinarily found for a
60-year-old with a romantic partner of the same age group.
Younger women flirt with Gianni but the flirtation is less amorous than polite.
There's a telling scene where Gianni talks to his teenage daughter's boyfriend
Michelangelo (Michelangelo Ciminale). Michelangelo asks if his girlfriend
(Teresa Di Gregorio) has talked about dumping him. Gianni's response
crystallizes his own doubts about whether women have dumped him as a romantic
possibility. It's a subtle moment of projection. Mr. Di Gregorio
breathes life into his weathered character, who feels, sees but keeps mostly to
himself. He's a difficult read to other characters in the film but the
actor-director's sad eyes express his weary character's wounded heart.
It's a performance resounding in its sense of silence and tranquility, a quietly
observed yet palpable rendering. That the good actors here, including the
director, play characters with names the same as their own real-life names adds
further credibility to the story co-written by Valerio Attanasio.
Mr. Di Gregorio's film often plays as dream fantasy, head trip and parody of
"the old boy's still got it", with groups of gorgeous, attractive 25 and
30-year-old women batting eyelids at Gianni in one playful sequence. That
fantasy meets head-on with the film's cold reality that even with a life of
relative contentment Gianni at 60 can likely expect to hardly be given a second
look by the opposite sex. He spends much of the film craning his neck at
sleek mini-skirted ladies who pass by on the street as if he's following a
tennis ball travelling back and forth over a net. He's human. He's a
man. Gianni has a pulse and a good heart, and he's viable to himself.
He knows he's a good man, a loving father and a caring husband. It's not
so much that he's looking to cheat; he's simply seeks acknowledgement.
Gianni tests the waters not for revenge or ego boost but for satisfaction and
his own quest for existential inquiry and discovery.
"The Salt Of Life" is an identifiable film for men and women alike, and while it
doesn't take itself especially seriously, there are moments of truth that hit
hard and deep, and a sadness and despair that ring loudly, which I left me dour
but appreciative. Throughout the film casts a shadowy pall over its lead
man. I hadn't expected "The Salt Of Life" to conclude the way it did, and
I'm glad it didn't. Other films of this genre would have made the end
easy, false, cliched and digestible, but Mr. Di Gregorio, a good actor and an
able director in this his second feature directing effort, is much smarter than
that. He leaves us something to think about and discuss. You can't
help but feel for his onscreen alter ego.
With: Elisabetta Piccolomini, Alyn Prandi, Kristina Cepraga, Lilia Silvi,
Gabriella Sborgi, Laura Squizzato, Silvia Squizzato.
"The Salt Of Life" is not rated by the Motion Picture Association Of America.
It contains mild sensuality.
The film is in the Italian language with English language subtitles. The film's
running time is one hour and thirty minutes.
COPYRIGHT 2012. POPCORNREEL.COM. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
FOLLOW
MOVIE REVIEWS |
INTERVIEWS |
YOUTUBE |
NEWS
|
EDITORIALS | EVENTS |
AUDIO |
ESSAYS |
ARCHIVES |
CONTACT
| PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME