MID-AUGUST LUNCH, reviewed...
http://shareddarkness.com/2010/04/05/mid-august-lunch.aspx
^ Nice review -- says the movie has sleepy rhythms, but *truth*, which is valuable.
It is a delightful movie. The women are naturals and not actresses. I highly recommend it as a character study, humorous movie.
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Whoa! Cannot believe how few people has posted for this film. Oh, well,
when people are lining up for "Date Night" and "Clash of the Titans",
what can we expect? In any case, I saw this film today and enjoyed it.
A deliberately paced, thoughtful examination of loneliness and the other
restrictions that afflict the elderly (and the not so elderly). My only
problem with the film is I would've liked to know more about Gianni.
What WERE his frustrations in life; how did he truly feel about living with
his mother at roughly age 60. And why no family? Was he gay? We really
have no clue as to who he is and I would've liked to have a more layered
character to explore. But despite this fairly big flaw, the film offers
many delights and it's a generally interesting and amusing slice of
European life.
"Date Night"? "Clash of the "Titan"? Never touch the stuff!
This looks like a delightful film, and I'm glad it's finally opening in the States. It looks like a fairly light-hearted approach to a subject that most filmmakers would rather just avoid, and Gianni couldn't see himself handling it any other way.
Because most of the women had no acting experience and were too old to memorize a script, Gianni just had them improvise. And people use their real names to make it easier. This sounds very much like the type of approach John Cassavetes was taking 50 years ago, and it worked (most of the time, at least).
As for Gianni's story, could it be that his character in the film mirrors the director's own self, hence the gaps or reluctant to turn the focus to him? Just a speculation here. Hopefully I'll have more to say when I see this, and hopefully it will be soon.
Gianni's mum told the other ladies that he'd had a few relationships that had ended badly, and I thought he seemed quite content to look after his mum.
It was an interesting film.
www.last.fm/music/The+Cakes (now on Spotify)
www.flickr.com/tsg