focoproject.com

Remember me, my love

Director: Gabriele Muccino
Genre: Drama/Romance
Year: 2003

At some point it occurred to me that I might have seen this movie before, when it was called Little Children. It as a fleeting thought really, and a faulty one at that (Little Children technically was released after this film, I just happened to see it before I saw this one), but it was troubling for a brief second. Nobody wants to watch the same movie twice. The ingredients were a bit different, we have one Italian dysfunctional family with four members running in four different directions. Carlo, the father, is at a job that is simply not satisfying, Giulia is disenchanted with her life where her dreams failed to come to realization and the marriage which forced the sacrifice seems to have run into a stalemate. The children are not any better off, Paolo an older teenager (19 if I recall correctly) finds himself hitting the social scene at the wrong angle, mostly because of his introversion and not any real handicap, which he finds extremely frustrating, but not enough to get Valentina, his younger sister to care, for she is more caught up in trying to make it into the tube as a dancer. Four characters all focused on their own path, too narrow and too deep to notice what is going on around them.

Not exactly Little Children, not yet. In fact the idea that this might be a movie similar in theme only hits when Carlo, frustrated and tired with his life, opts to have an affair with a recently reacquainted flame from his past, Alessia (Monica Belucci). Then and only then do the four lives seem separately threatened and one gets that dreadful feeling that Little Children so well provided. My thought, at this point, was one that simply hoped for a different ending, something original. And it was so.

This film develops in a rather unique fashion, where the first third of the movie – perhaps a bit more – is quickly edited and quickly acted. It is in fact dumped on you almost as fast as one can process, following these four lives at a break neck pace even if the theme itself is not action packed. The result is a nearly overwhelming start, where everything seems to be spinning out of control before we even know why; and then, just as it things truly begin to get complicated, everything seems to slow down, suddenly we are given more time to examine the way these four people begin to come together.

It is an interesting study in character, for sure, but certainly it is more than that, it is a realistic, if somewhat bleak take on life, on marriage, on family and the way they work. The affair, is not an end to things in this film, but rather the axis upon which it revolves and when you think you might be getting to a wrap up, you probably will find yourself surprised that there is still quite a bit to go. Some might find this unappealing, because it does seem to stretch the content of this film which runs 125 minutes. But to a patient viewer, the additional drama provided is most definitely worth the watch.

While well acted on the most part, there are a few moments where things slip ever so slightly, particularly with Valentina’s character who at moments fails to hit her role just right, though it is nothing that the erotic charge she brings to the screen can’t overcome. Tense and potent, this flick is a roller coaster with the lack of a Hollywood ending, which will disappoint many, and please a few. I for one found it quite intriguing and realistic, the way things are left and it is testament to the good job the director did when, as the credits roll, you want to punch something.

A good film, though not necessarily one to watch while in a depressed state. It does deal with a number of marital issues, infidelity, family problems, drug usage and sexuality among other things. If you are a fan of independent films, foreign films, can handle tense drama and are ok with not necessarily happy or fully resolved endings, this film is one you will find to your liking.