Le meraviglie

A candid but still rather mystical vision of agrarian life.

We get a strong and very believable depiction of a family that lives in each other's pockets and life is just working and hoping you don't mess anything up.

Then a glimpse of glamour emerges and that basically fuels the plot. The characterization is simple but effective and I was quite on edge for one scene (you'll know it when you see it).

Ultimately it's a celebration of the mundane struggle where if nothing else you have your family but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its moments of strange images that really stay with you.

Saw this at the Film Fest Ghent 2014, expecting something remarkable or novel, given what Cannes jury had to say about it. Alas, for me it failed on several counts, mainly because I don't think that throwing in an ample variety of ingredients does produce a good stew. It seems that the film makers tried to follow a complicated recipe, but could not come to a consistent and balanced product. The best example of something completely out of tune was the bee produced by Gelsomina out of her mouth on two occasions, the last one as part of the TV show she signed up her family for. It should be possible to find something better for this purpose, and still having a relationship with their bee keeping business where it was all about.

The synopsis on the festival website stated that Gelsomina was the center of the bee keeping business, and particularly the honey extraction process, but I found that not so clearly shown while watching the movie. Yet she is mentioned several times as "head of the family", while all signs seem to point in different directions. Also, when the boy Martin is introduced, everyone points to Gelsomina as the responsible person, and again I don't understand as it is the father who introduced the boy in the first place. I apparently did miss something important.

An annoying aspect of this movie is that it happened a few times that the scenery jumped to several hours later in time, without being clear about the change. For example: after the day that the boy was lost on the island, we suddenly see Gelsomina in action on the farm, requiring us to take some time noticing we are at a different time and place now, and adjust our focus accordingly. It happened to me several times, but this was the most prominent occurrence that I still remember.

While this film's Grand Prize of the Cannes jury rises expectations, I'm disappointed because of my overall feelings that the end product is not in any way remarkable, all things considered. It happened many times before that I didn't agree with festival juries, however, so this may become a fact of (my) life. It may be so that the jury admired the portraying of life on a farm, being a non-issue for me grown up on a farm myself. So all the tedious tasks and the inherent dangers in animals and machinery were merely deja-vu for me, nothing out of the ordinary. Similarly, the mixed household and the assortment of very different people having to work together, is normal on a farm and standard operating procedure. In other words, I'm prejudiced in duplicate, on one hand to find something that the Cannes jury found remarkable, on the other hand seeing a portrait of farming that offers nothing special for me. I'm inclined to forget about the jury and let aforementioned faults weigh in to arrive at a negative conclusion.

For a film about a simple Italian beekeeping family there is a wealth of depth and imagination. I personally wasn't a fan of the visuals, editing, and cinematography; but the screenplay was phenomenal, the acting was superb, and the story struck at the heart of family life amidst difficulty.

I don't know much about Italian lore and history, but I would guess this film is some kind of modern take on an ancient Etruscan fairy tale. A struggling rural family with scores of problems is almost entirely dependent on the oldest daughter to provide. In order to help her family, she calls on the help of a fairy. In this case, the fairy is the host of a prize show. All in all, it's a brilliant revision of folklore. It goes to show that moral messages of ancient stories apply just as much to us today as they did to ancient civilizations 2700 years ago.

The inner and hidden emotions of adults, wrote Nathaniel Hawthorne, are often revealed through how their children are acting. The life of a family of beekeepers in the central Italian countryside reveals the truth and magic of Hawthorne's words. Despite the brash, impulsive and abrasive outward behavior of the family patriarch, Wolfgang, the household composed of four daughters and a couple of guest workers functions smoothly and efficiently. This is due mostly to the oldest daughter, twelve year old Gelsomina. Gelsomina is reserved, quiet and caring like a queen bee and the family life secretly revolves around her.

There is potential to disrupt the hive. When the family is taking a break and swimming in a natural area of warm, volcanic springs, they run into a television crew featuring local culinary wonders. The star and host of the show, played by Monica Bellucci, takes a liking to Gelsomina. Gelsomina foresees a chance for her family, honey and their bees to shine by appearing in the show and winning money to help support themselves. Wolfgang sees only trouble. For him there are things that money cannot buy. Father and daughter may have more in common than is readily apparent.

This serene and unhurried film is an antidote to the shallow, predictable and emotionless Hollywood slop. It is amazing the way the life of the family mirrors that of the bees, and how they depend on each other. The actors and the film crew do a wonderful job of keeping the story flowing, or buzzing. I felt like I was part of the family and the hive of bees, and not merely watching them on screen. Other wonders of the film include interesting and unique characters and a variable, unstructured plot in which viewers can choose their own meanings.

The Wonders is really a beautiful film. There is great cinematography and interesting shots, meaningful themes to ponder, and an interesting story, but I wonder if it isn't a bit too understated. The director's more meandering and whimsical style won't be for everyone and I feel like the beats of the story could have been punched in a little bit more, because afterwards I'm left pondering about many interesting ideas the film only briefly touched upon.