Bread and Tulips

Recently Charlotte Rampling in `Under the Sand' and Tilda Swinton in `The Deep End' remind us that European cinema has long portrayed middle-age women as desirable in a way immature American men are unaccustomed, so conditioned are we to a youth culture that adores naughty teenage waifs and jaded 20-somethings.

Now the Italian `Bread and Tulips' introduces us to the attractive Licia Maglietta as the middle-aged housewife refugee finding love and friendship in Venice. Although the setup of this film left me fidgeting for action, when I saw her liberated from her family and slowly begin her renewal, I fell in love again with Italy and European mature-woman idolatry. I don't know if it's the ample breasts, knowing smiles, or willingness to sass that gets my attention, or maybe all of the above. I do know 2 hours of these savvy women are far more satisfying than any days with Julia Roberts or Kirsten Dunst.

Let me not ignore the true man in this tale: Bruno Ganz, the angel from `Wings of Desire,' plays brooding waiter Fernando, ready at any moment to hang himself until Rosealba renews his love of love and epic verse. Ganz is a marvel of understated acting, a perfect companion to the romantic Rosealba.

The inevitable comparison between director Silvio Soldini and Woody Allen, with their genial sense of city and women, is appropriate, especially considering the similarity between Soldini's romantic Venice and Allen's lyrical Paris in `Everyone Says I Love You.'

`Bread and Tulips' received several David Di Donatello Awards, the Italian version of the Oscars, for best picture, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, director, and three others. To see Rosealba go from frumpy mom to bohemian accordion and tulip player is worth wading through a boring Wayne Knight, wanabee plumber cum detective or over the top, philandering, bourgeois bathroom fixtures magnate husband. Some of this stuff is downright dull slapstick, a little like the sophomoric stumbling of `Life is Beautiful,' but when Rosealba smiles, it's very good.

What comes into mind when we say "classic"? Well, it has to be universal and deep and yet simple. It should appeal beyond the "critics" and reach the critical mass. I can't say if "Bread and Tulips" can be termed as a Classic already ... but it does satisfy all three above mentioned conditions. It is simply put, very universal yet subtle and deep. It builds intriguing moments... that viewer keeps even after the movie ends. How real or logical or practical the story is or is it a fairy tale?

Well, how many times in real life we act logical? The fact that human being is NOT a logical creature and they act per their impulse and dream for their dreams to come true ... this can be categorized as a quite close thing that may happen to someone. Or at least someone may not be disappointed if that happens to her/him. In short, its not a everyday incident. But YES ... it can happen and well, bits and pieces DO happen in life.

Overall it gives a tremendously optimistic view towards life ... I would argue a real inspiring outcome. It portrays a middle aged woman getting close to her real life and real likings when circumstance puts her away from the typical and logical setting in her family. She finds her confidence back, finds friends, finds likings and music ... and finally yes, finds her love. Its a transformation that she goes through ... and none of which is quite "aceptable" or "normal" in our civilized society. But even then, she had to go out of defined way to get that. In that process, this movie creates great shots and moments that builds the environment and confirms it to a classic comedy. Worth watching ... and worth owning.

This is an enjoyable little Italian/Swiss production, that mostly gets carried by its characters.

The movie is sweet, little and innocent. In other words, perfect harmless entertainment. The movie feels warm and sincere, this is due to the setting of the movie (Venice) and its characters, that are all far from perfect but because of that also very humane and in this case also enjoyably quirky at times.

The movie is mostly comical with its characters. They are over-the-top but at the same time kept humane. It helps to make the movie an enjoyable one to watch and at the same time also keeps sure that the emotions of the movie feel real.

The movie features a nice story in which a married mother escapes her normal everyday life after she has been forgotten during a vacation by the tour bus. She decides to take advantage of the situation by hitchhiking to Venic, the city she always wanted to visit. perhaps for the first time ever in her life she feels herself alive and home somewhere, where she really can be herself. She decides to stay for a day but the day soon becomes days and the days weeks.

For a change the movie centrally features a love-story between 2 persons at age and not persons who are still in the prime of their life and are in their early 20's, or something. It's refreshing, dramatic more powerful and involving and in a way also sweeter.

Licia Maglietta is a good leading lady for the movie. and she forms a good couple with Bruno Ganz, who is halve Swiss, halve Italian and by far has the best lines of the movie, that almost sound poetic like. The rest of the supporting actors are mainly for the fun but everyone does a good job at portraying them.

The movie is however not the best made and constructed one. At times they simply choose not to show some of the dramatic responses and just cut away and goes forward in time or back to another location. In my opinion this is a sign of weakness of the film-maker's skills and it's also definitely due to the editing that the movie does not work out at all times.

Nevertheless, you should be able to appreciate and enjoy watching this movie.

7/10

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Maybe you have to be Italian to really understand. But this is a delightfully funny picture with moments of tenderness and pathos, a quintessentially Italian approach to the bored housewife story. It's also a wonderful view of Venice from an Italian perspective. It's a bit of a fantasy, a bit of a fem-flick, a bit of a travelogue. I've been to Italy several times. This movie makes me want to go back again. Bravissimo!

Pane e tulipani or Bread and Tulips is a wonderful Italian movie. The story is told in a way only a European can, you would never find such a movie in Hollywood. There are no special effects, no gadgets, no fast cars, ... nothing you would probably find in it if this was a Hollywood production. The characters are the real stars in this movie, together with all the streets and canals of Venice.

It's about a middle aged, neglected housewife and mother who is left behind by her family on a bus trip. Her family doesn't even notice she's missing until two hours later. She decides to hitch-hike home and she meets different people. To one of them she says that she has never been to Venice, but that she really would like to see it. The man suggests to bring her to Venice instead of driving her home and so her adventure begins. She meets some interesting people and in one way or another she always influences their lives. But not only their lives change, her life is influenced by it as well.

I guess this must sound incredibly boring to some people, but it really isn't. I enjoyed the movie - which can be seen as a modern fairy tale or as a real story - a lot. I guess it all depends from the viewer. Do you believe finding real love, when it's not supposed to happen to you, could actually happen? Personally I do, but I'm a real optimist, so perhaps that's why I liked it so much. It might also be because it gives a very optimistic view towards life.

I guess the real strength of this movie lies in the fact that even after the movie has ended, you are still thinking about it. The story is simple, very universal, but also subtle and deep.

I could talk for hours about this movie, but I guess you'll have to see it for yourself. My advice to everybody, but especially to the people who love Italy as much as I do: Sit down, relax and enjoy. I give it a 8.5/10.