Solino

Turko-German directing star "Fatih Akin" proffers the tale of a family of Italian immigrants in Germany. "Solino" is the movie that immediately preceded his breakthrough "Gegen die Wand".

A young couple and their two sons move from the Italian village of Solino to Germany, where they are, overall, pretty successful as restauranteurs. But in time divisions become apparent: the father can't handle his success and exploits his wife and sons. The brothers fight over women; when one of them becomes successful as a movie director, the other brother can't handle his own jealousy. When the mother falls deadly ill, the filmmaker gives up his career and moves back with her to Italy, where he finds true love.

The movie is watchable, but overall I couldn't warm to it. The plot is often meandering and full of clichés. I didn't like seeing German actors portraying Italians who speak German throughout -- that simply couldn't fly. I didn't buy the bit about the one brother being a film-making boy wonder -- the movies we get to see by him are bo-ring. I didn't buy the Jules-et-Jim-like love affair between Gigi, Giancarlo and Jo -- she comes across as little more than a blonde slag. I really hated the stereotype about the simple country girl waiting for her childhood love to come back from Germany "to bring her snow". I thought the story about the kindly photo shop owner was naff.

That's not enough for me to either hate or love this movie. The only thing that stands out to me is the impressive performance of the actress portraying the mother, Antonella Attili.

NB: I have to write the director's name in parentheses, otherwise IMDb will bowdlerise his first name to "faith".

I adored this movie. Not only because I am a big fan of Moritz Bleibtreu, although he is in practically all German movies that count. But also because he is NOT the main actor. The lead is taken over by Barnaby Metschurat, who was the only reason to watch 2001's Julietta, and who really carries this movie on his shoulders.

A family moves from Italy to Germany seeking "the German dream" (this is my own invention and ironic...) of cheap labor in steel and coal industries. However, they end up opening a restaurant and the journey the movie takes to this point alone is so poetic and at the same time funny and charming. From this point onward, the story told is mainly that of the two brothers of this family, Giancarlo (Bleibtreu) and Gigi (Metschurat). Gigi's dream to become a filmmaker is threatened by rivalry with his brother and his mother's determination to return to Italy. What follows is a great - and totally neutral - look at what life can become formed by the choices you make.

In the end, this movie doesn't say which life (Gigi's or Giancarlo's) was more successful or fuller or more interesting. It merely gives us a rewarding glimpse at what it must be like to search for identity when two countries and mentalities are involved. and this look is not driven by bitterness or disdain to either country, which makes it such a great film for any and every country dealing with the tensions resulting from immigration. The fact that director Fatih Akin's moved to Germany from Turkey in the 70s also lends this movie a large measure of its credibility and emotional accuracy. The icing on the cake are fantastic performances by the entire cast, especially Metschurat and - this I really need to stress - the little boy who plays young Gigi. That kid's performance would be a hard act to follow by just about anyone! Great movie, go see it.

After Fatih Akins first work "Im Juli", which was fairly good, he created a really gorgeous italian family epic. Its a german movie, which is unfortunately a bad precondition, cause we rareley produce more than moderate movies ;). But this movie makes some very good snapshots of the time then. "Solino" is about a Italian immigrant who arrives in the "Ruhr" region of Germany during the 60s. The immigrant and his family then start the first Pizza restaurant in the region. The characters are excellent drawn. Especially Gigi, the main actor. You live every second, every feeling he does. His brother, played by Moritz Bleibtreu, isnt that good. Well, you just dont believe him the role. But the character is wellbalanced and fits perfectly into this script. I feel an urgent need to compare the style of this movie with the style of "The Godfather". Many people will probably hate this movie, say its boring. Not much tension? - yes, but an outrageous movie. 9 out of 10.

Akin deals with two of his favorite themes here; the experience of the immigrant outsider, and food. Both run through his later films, but even here are approached with energy and humanity.

The story of an Italian family that moves to Germany to in the hopes of getting better work, the film spans 20 years. The first act takes place in 1964, as the family makes the move and the 2 brothers who are the children try to adjust. Jump forward 10 years to 1974 and the film moves from sweet light sentiment to something a little darker and more complex, as the brothers are now young adults, pulling away from the family, and grappling with what they want out of life and the tensions caused by their naturally different temperaments.

While not at the level of his later amazing works like "Head-On" and "The Edge of Heaven", this is an entertaining and very human movie that manages to be a portrait of a struggling family, that's neither horribly depressing, or sticky sweet and cute.

It's very frustrating, but there seems to be no officially released DVD with English subtitles.

This film plays in the 60s and is about an Italian family: Romano, his wife Rosa and their two children Gigi and Giancarlo emigrate from Solino in Italy to Duisburg in the Ruhr area. I like this film, because I think it is quite realistic: it shows problems which many foreign families have when they come to another country: they have to get used to a new culture, a new environment and this can be difficult: especially if you don't know the language.... It is difficult for the family but they find a way: they open a restaurant which offers typical Italian food, and it is named "Solino", like their hometown. The film also shows different conflicts - Gigi and Giancarlo fall in love with the same girl, and although Rosa has to work very hard, Romano refuses to pay money to engage more workers, etc. etc. But stop, I don't want to tell you how it goes on. You should watch the film yourself, it's a nice one - I have also made a Referat about it and examined scenes which show different cultural attitudes. And there are a few...