Il più bel giorno della mia vita

This really poetic film tells the story of an italian family. It is the story of a grandmother, Irene, her two daughters, Rita and Sara and her son, Claudio. Sara is a woman who is not able to trust of any man and she is always worry for her son. Rita, who has two daughters, is living the end of her marriage and is in love with a veterinary surgeon. Claudio is a gay and he doesn't try to manage this fact in a good way. At the beginning the relationship inside this family are very formal, everyone tries to hide his deep feelings but, little by little, the impossibility to live a daily life behind a mask determines a change in the behaviour of all protagonists. However this change is not without suffering. Irene herself, who at a first glance seems to be a woman without uncertainty and always tried to give serenity to all his family, suddendly realizes that her life was full of masks too and that suffering and uncertainty are elements of every life.

There is some movies that have a special and well designed message. 'Piú bel Giorno della mia vita, il' is one of them. Maybe someone would think that the movie is a bit obvious and redundant. But the point is that this movie wants to tells us a common story, a story of a family (an Italian family, but maybe all the families in the world have the same problems)in search of love, companionship, tolerance and hope. In this angle, the movie made a good work. Its dialog are natural, simple minded but realistic and the characters are compassionate and not just cardboard figures. Some themes are treated with dignity, although not with profoundity. The gay relationship between Claudio and Luca, the solitude and vague sadness of the mother (played by Virna Lisi), the innocence and sadness of the little girl named Chiara. The movies made in Italy have a special place in the history of cinema. Just remember Fellini ('Amarcord') or Ettore Scola ('Famiglia, La'). In the last ten years, Italia was almost absent of the international scene of movies. The world discovered movies made in Spain by Almodóvar, Argentina, with directors like Juan José Campanella (Hijo de la Novia, El) or Brazil ('Central Station', by Walter Salles). This movie is almost a comeback. A good one, to be sure.

I just finished watching this movie on TV and I must say I enjoyed it. Unlike some commentators here, I found it well acted, filmed and decently written. I am Italian and I liked the dialogues and the way in which they draw the identity and psychology of each character. They are dry and realistic. Silence and inability to fully talk are presented as important as they are in real life and, it seems to me, in many family dynamics. And for being a movie produced by RAI, of course it has some obvious auto-limitations in the way in which certain themes are represented – like homosexuality and the absence of a scene of sexual intercourse or even a kiss between two males – but still it does a decent job in rendering passions, emotions and the way in which sexuality shapes human relationship and understanding. So, not a masterpiece, but a good product.

The problem with some other reviews here has to do with the conception of cinema that some have and the ramifications that this has on the way they judge a movie. For many it seems that a film should necessarily be a piece of militant advocacy for the cause they see as fundamental. So any creation should stand for something: war criticism, homosexuality, fight against segregation, etc. And if the cause happens to be a centerpiece of today's political correctness, then the movie should scream that for one hundred minutes in the ears of the viewers. Well, this movie is not of that kind and does not want to say much about homosexuality. It tries to see human relations with eyes of a ten year old girl, not with the over-pouring judgment of, say, Almodovar. It takes some ability to be light, and Ms. Comencini has it.

I studied abroad in Italy; while there I took a film class in which we viewed this movie and discussed it in relation to contemporary Italian society. The director Cristina Comencini is from a famed Italian film making family, and I feel this movie is a wonderful exhibit of her directorial skill. It may be difficult for an American mind to understand the complexity of relationships and the value of family to the Italian culture, and that could account for its lackluster American reviews (it was generally quite well received in Italy). I do not believe this is an example of Italian film at its best - it is in no way comparable to the works of Rossellini or DeSica, but it is an entertaining and touching film that I would recommend.

The most beautiful day of my life is a great concert of the most distinguished acting I have seen in a long time.

The Italian family at its best: meeting every Sunday for a lunch at the house of the conservative and traditionalistic grandma. And while on the outside everybody is keeping their face, the relationships within and between the family members have their classic taboos which cannot be touched: the brother's homosexuality, the sister's affair, etc. The longing for love is so eminent, it almost scares. And while we have to wait for the catharsis to arrive, we learn that there is no right or wrong about love. And that the individual perspective about love is just the one there is... no absolute truths, no demons of the known... just the personal stories and their roots.

The director did a great job with unusual camera positions. They show the hidden, the undiscovered... Thanks!