Save your money for something good and enjoyable

i must have seen a different film!!

hyped garbage

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

I have been always consider Ozpetek's films as heart warming. There's just always a table which the characters sit and eat and talk about their lives, about problems that they've been through. It reminds me my childhood and that heartwarming atmosphere. The acting through this film is surprisingly incredible. It made me feel like I'm in the script and think about the problems the main character's been through. There were some parts that made me think "no way! This is one in a million". But the acting and the manner of telling that Ozpetek put through the film made me more comfortable. The film has very strong expression so it made me happy. Also the choice of music was incredible. This was the another fact that made this film more heartwarming. I can not think this film with other soundtracks. This is one must-watch film.

Father and owner of a pasta making business, learns that his eldest son, predestined to take over the company, is gay. The latter is announced on a family party, and surprises everyone present. The father does not take it very well, and sends the son away packing.Peculiar is that the announcement is just a few minutes ahead of the second son, who was initially planning to announce his gayness at that same family event, but did not know of the plans of his brother. The second son refrains from same announcement, fearing that his father won't survive a double "disaster". He tries to take up his role as second-in-line son to become the future company owner. But his heart is with being a writer, and not in leading a pasta factory.Of course, the father does not see all this. He is too much occupied with "what people in the village may think". He is also mad at his family, that they did not forewarn him because "everyone can recognize gay people by their behavior".Several amusing story lines unfold. The family is large enough to offer many opportunities for sub-plots. It's a pity that most are not developed to their full potential. Even worse, some are rather unrealistic, like the gay friends of the second son staying for a few days.The grandmother seems to be the only one overseeing what happens within the family. Some of the time she throws some hints around, but most of those are not picked up. She is reluctant to really interfere. This is a great role. She is also the only one not adding to all the standard gay clichés that we see passing.In the final scene, the first son re-appears at a funeral where also the father is present. They even come close physically, both being involved in carrying the coffin. Whether they are about to get closer mentally, is left in the open. Given that the second son already has made clear being unhappy in his role as future company owner, this could provide for a chance to welcome the lost son. However, this story line (like several others) are left as an exercise for the viewer, so it seems.

I saw this movie at the Chicago International Film Festival, along with 18 other movies, and it was, by far, the best movie in the festival. It was the only movie I attended that was applauded by the audience at the end of the film. I see that one of the film critics commented that the film was uneven because it couldn't make up its mind whether it was a comedy or a drama. It was both and worked on both levels, which is one of the reasons I loved it. it made me laugh and it made me cry. I think the best art is often like that. Gabriel Garcia Marquez' book "100 Years of Solitude" and Joseph Heller's "Catch 22" are examples of books that are very funny and very sad, sometimes for exactly the same reasons. I hope this film will be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It deserves the recognition.

Fernan Ozpetek delivers another talented direction in a movie which stands somehow apart from his previous ones, being here the entertaining and even funny element more evident and succeeded. The main theme has dramatic and thoughtprovoking implication, being it the difficulty for a son to reveal his homosexuality to his family, and the difficulty, almost the impossibility for the family to accept this revelation. What stands out here, as in all movies directed by Ozpetek, is the delicacy in handling with still difficult and "disturbing" topics, not judging nor siding for any point of view, but simply trying, sometimes with a radical but effective attitude, to offer a believable contemporary frame. At the same time, some funny moments are delivered and help to relieve the story of the easy risk to become too melodramatic or pedantic.The cast proves cohesive, each character well characterized and well integrated with the others. The performance offered by Ilaria Occhini, playing the grandmother, is significantly impressive and touching: she is referred as the loose cannon of the family, but she is actually the true emotional core of the family and of the movie, as well. Merit has to be given also to the youngest cast, belonging to the more glamorous and less committed Italian cinematography, but capable to convince and appeal the viewer thanks to their heartfelt interpretations, and not only thanks to their beauty.