Solino

I really enjoyed this movie. The script is fresh and unpredictable and the acting is outstanding.It is a down-to-earth movie with characters one cares about. It brought tears into my eyes a few times but left me with a great feeling afterwards.

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".

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.

Such a delightful movie! Very heart warming. One can't help falling in love with the character of Gigi. He's adorable as a child and grows into a sensitive artist. The whole movie revolves around him. He lives in a wonderful world – living all life – curiosity, desire and anticipation. There is an elder brother who tries to steal his glory but really remains in the shadow all his life. The father is very stereotypically Italian and so is the mother. I wanted the father to come and reunite with the mother in the last scene – and have them cry and laugh. I also wish that there was at least something redeeming about the elder brother. His personality seems to have been trashed entirely. Passion and ardour – that's the key to life. And looking through the camera – focusing on small details and savoring the delicate details of life.