Agata e la tempesta is an agreeable, though half-baked, surreal dream. Agata is a happy middle-aged bookshop owner living alone, who causes magnetic storms when she's excited (making bulbs, toasters, computers, traffic lights go pop). She has a daughter in Spain and a saturnine "brother", Gustavo, nearby, who is going through an identity crisis (he has discovered he is not related to her, his real brother being a Felliniesque travelling salesman in the rag trade, with a handicapped wife and a collection of one-night-stands). He is married to a celebrity tv psychologist who counsels people in shaky marriages and enacts her own advice at home. Agata herself feels attracted to a much younger married man who idolises her. There are several other characters, all of them pulling in different directions. Each of the characters would deserve his or her movie.
This film has a number of serious flaws. Firstly, the duration - two hours - is too long for following the main thread of the inconclusive comedy plot. Secondly, It is miscast. Massironi (Ines, the psychologist - a great interpretation), is a wonderful comedienne with multifaceted charisma, who would have given extra depth to the protagonist Agata. Instead, this is played with insufficient conviction by Maglietta (whom I see far better cast as Ines), definitely too plain, overage and overweight for the character (who still walks around flimsily dressed, carelessly displaying her flabbiness. Is this really sexy?). Battiston (Romeo, travelling salesman in the rag trade), puts in an even more brilliant performance than in Bread and Tulips; he is unfortunately - and literally - sacrificed by a sloppy and shallow script. Solfrizzi (Gustavo, Agata's brother) is, at best, expressionless and his lines cliché. Santamaria, who plays the young lover, Nico, is almost laughable, with his stereotyped overacting. Which woman would keep a straight face at his courtship? Weather-beaten Jorgensen pulls off an unconvincing portrayal as the Nordic career woman infatuated with the sluggish Gustavo. Where's the spark? Two very pleasant discoveries are Volodi (playing Maria Libera, Agata's colleague), a very promising character actress reminiscent of Milena Vukotic at her best, and Lappo (Daria, Romeo's handicapped wife), funny and sweet, who may be following into the late Giulietta Masina's steps.
I somehow miss the Silvio Soldini of Bread and Tulips, and hope to see him back in full colours in the future. Overall mark: C-
