Mine vaganti

Loose Cannons (Mine vaganti) is a beautiful movie about a young gay man in a large, loving and eccentric Southern Italian family. His plan to free himself from the family pasta business by coming out as gay misfires early in the movie, and the remaining ninety minutes cover how his dilemma is resolved.

But this is far, far more than a coming-out movie. Themes of life and death and family and love and loss and immortality run like deep, rich rivers of life throughout the story; it is astonishing how much emotional ground is covered so effectively and gracefully in so little time. Each one of the dozen or so highly differentiated characters is fully and richly developed, and not one of them is short-changed or stereotyped.

I bought Loose Cannons because I have loved the earlier works of Ferzan Ozpetec, particularly His Secret Life (Le fate ignoranti), Facing Windows (La finestra di fronte), Sacred Heart (Cuore sacro), and - most of all - Saturn in Opposition (Saturno contro), but Loose Cannons surpasses them all. Each of its predecessors had minor flaws and occasional weak moments, but Loose Cannons has none.

As usual in his movies, photography, sets and music are highly original and perfectly fitted to the story: if it were a silent movie it would be beautiful just to look at; if it were a radio program it would be delightful just to listen to. This is the first of his movies to integrate a significant amount of comedy into his usually serious but highly imaginative dramas, and he does it expertly; I laughed out loud almost as often as I wept with delight.

This movie is a masterpiece. I cannot imagine how a better movie could ever be made; but Ozpetec is young still, so I am confident he will do it somehow. I can say without any reservation at all that this is the best movie I have ever seen.

Fernan Ozpetek delivers another talented direction in a movie which stands somehow apart from his previous ones, being here the entertaining and even funny element more evident and succeeded. The main theme has dramatic and thoughtprovoking implication, being it the difficulty for a son to reveal his homosexuality to his family, and the difficulty, almost the impossibility for the family to accept this revelation. What stands out here, as in all movies directed by Ozpetek, is the delicacy in handling with still difficult and "disturbing" topics, not judging nor siding for any point of view, but simply trying, sometimes with a radical but effective attitude, to offer a believable contemporary frame. At the same time, some funny moments are delivered and help to relieve the story of the easy risk to become too melodramatic or pedantic.

The cast proves cohesive, each character well characterized and well integrated with the others. The performance offered by Ilaria Occhini, playing the grandmother, is significantly impressive and touching: she is referred as the loose cannon of the family, but she is actually the true emotional core of the family and of the movie, as well. Merit has to be given also to the youngest cast, belonging to the more glamorous and less committed Italian cinematography, but capable to convince and appeal the viewer thanks to their heartfelt interpretations, and not only thanks to their beauty.

This is one of the best movies of the year,a wonderful tale of hope,friendship,love and family.For those who want to laugh, cry and especially think about matters that are, ultimately, uncomplicated and simple to think about.The actors are all simply wonderful, the musical score a must, and the script consistent with the aim of the picture: to tell a tale about living life to the hilt, and being happy the way one is.The most beautiful and unforgettable moments are related to the on-screen presence of Tommaso, Marco, Alba and 'the nonna'.This is for me one of the best movies of 2010 and a wonderful,sensitive and unforgettable tale!

Juxtaposing with other Ozpetek's films I have watched (chronically STEAM: THE Turkish BATH 1997, LAST HAREM 1999, THE IGNORANT FAIRIES 2001, FACING WINDOWS 2003, SATURN IN OPPOSITION 2007), this time Ozpetek is palpably much smoother and more effortless to deal with his gay-oriented hallmark, shunning from all the melancholy and narcissism most homosexual films shamelessly over-exploit.

This film is struggling to overthrow FACING WINDOWS from the crown of my favorite Ozpetek's work (I do need a fresh re-watch of STEAM though). I do not dare to spoil anything here, one prominent astonishment comes at the near end, when the camera fluidly couples with different times, emanates a wonderful visual and spiritual poignancy which exactly one would love to experience from watching a decent film!

The cast may not be perfectly splendid, but every character is worth of some acknowledge for its ensemble undertaking, in particular for Ilaria Occhini (the grandmother in the film), a royal poise exuding from her own dignity, which counter-balances the dramatic banality of the coming-out-of-the-closet plight (namely a shade abominable presence of Ennio Fantastichini). Our leading man Riccardo Scamarcio (from THREE STEPS OVER HEAVEN 2004) may be in lack of a certain gay temperament as the chemistry between him and an irresistibly alluring Nicole Grimaudo is way more tangible here.

The comedy part in the film is somewhat showy but properly amusing; the intermittent interruption of grandma's marriage is adorably empathetic, also I cherish the balmy score (from Pasquale Catalano) and the moot ending which insinuates a positive perspective of the philosophy of our beings.

The blatant snub of 2011 Davide di Donatello awards (only one nomination for BEST MUSIC) is atrociously staggering in my opinion, but it will not stop Ozpetek from coming to be among the most promising virtuoso in the contemporary Italian cinema.

Bravo for Ivan Cotroneo, the talented translator of Cunningham and Kureishi, among other evident skills, and for Fernan Ozpetek, the only Italian director (though he happens to be Turkish by birth) who regularly and reliably features positive gay characters in his films. In an Italy that, at least as issues of sexual identity and respect for difference are concerned, has just barely crossing the threshold of the 1980s, Ozpetek is a rarity and a treasure. The first two-thirds of Mine Vaganti (Loose Cannons) will seem dated to anyone familiar with the last 30 years of queer representation in American cinema, as will the melodramatic, end-of-the-world reaction of Tommaso's father to learning that his son is gay, but the last third hits all the right dramatic and emotional notes and redeems any doubts one might have about the rest. There are some outstanding performances here: Ilaria Occhini as Tommaso's grandmother, and the gorgeous Nicole Grimaudo as the disconsolate and complex Alba. In fairness, I even have to throttle back some of my knee-jerk dislike for Scamarcio. It's not that he's a standout here, but playing a gay character is still a brave move in Italian cinema, especially for an actor who still depends on teen-heartthrob roles for his bread-and-butter. He's certainly no more or less believable as a gay man than are any of the other actors in the film, though even that's a throwback to the days when U.S. cinema divided representations of gay men between "normal," masculine gays (Tommaso—who may be gay, but still knows how to play soccer—his boyfriend, and his brother) and the "sassy gay friends" who are frivolous and effeminate and whose only purpose is to provide comic relief. Still, Mine Vaganti is a giant step forward and a welcome and charming antidote to government silence and Vatican-inspired hate speech.