Loucas de Alegria

Whenever I review a foreign language film, I fully realize many people won't bother watching the picture because it's not in English. This is a shame, as many of the better films I have seen have been in a variety of languages and with "Like Crazy", you'd be missing a very good movie.

The story begins in a psychiatric institution in Italy. Beatrice (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) is a patient, though she won't admit this to anyone…even herself. In her distorted mind, she is a countess… and the old mansion used as a hospital was donated by her to treat these unfortunate people! So, while at times Beatrice looks and seems very normal, she is severely deluded and self-absorbed. When a new resident arrives, Beatrice decides to make Donatella (Micaela Ramazzotti) her own personal project. After all, she is a rich, benevolent lady and helping the unfortunates is her life! So how, exactly, does she 'help'? Yep…she orchestrates an escape and soon the oddly matched pair are out on a joy ride…complete with stolen car.

At this point in the movie, Paolo Virzi (who wrote and directed the picture) could have chosen to make the film a kooky comedy, like "Crazy People" or "The Couch Trip"…which is what you might expect with a Hollywood film. Fortunately, "Like Crazy" does not go there but manages to be rather poignant as well as realistic. You learn more about Beatrice and Donatella and their lives outside the institution but there are no magic solutions to their problems. After all, they are indeed very ill and mental illness isn't particularly funny…and is often quite tragic. Now this is not to say that ultimately this is a depressing or tragic film…and it manages to say quite a bit while still being believable and compelling.

One of my top ten movies of all time is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It still holds up 48 years after its' release. Crazy Life is sort of a step child of Milos Forman's masterpiece. While not as good as Jack Nicholson's best film, it is one of my favorite foreign films of the last ten years. Donatella and Beatrice are a couple of emotionally unstable women who meet at a mental hospital. They click on a shared level of being outcasts from normal society. The misfits team up for a really wild adventure. The actresses are tremendous, with a screen chemistry as good as I have ever seen. The script is both sad and funny, with a completely unpredictable story which kept me guessing from beginning to end. One slight drawback is the rapid fire dialogue here. If you do not speak Italian; and I don't, be prepared to speed read for two hours. Even with that, I highly recommend Crazy Life.

"A joyful madness" would have been a better translation for the international market. Such a surprisingly good film. Well, not entirely surprising because Paolo Virzì, from Tuscany, currently one of Italy's best directors, his movies always centred around interesting, well defined characters, masterfully mixing comedy and drama, in this case with heart breaking results. It helps that this screenplay has been written together with talented screenwriter and director Francesca Archibugi who, amongst other things, in 1990 directed Italian movie icon Marcello Mastroianni in the drama "Verso sera" (Towards Evening). Her contribution to this film must be acknowledged. The two leading actresses are excellent. Micaela Ramazzotti as the desperate mother who, amongst all sort of troubles, tries to get back in contact with her only son. Even better is Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who is absolutely amazing as Donatella, the rich countess who struggles to cope with her mental disorders but who takes the younger Beatrice under her wing. When they run away from the psychiatric facility they are placed in by the authorities (perfectly depicted in typical human but caothic way) their foolish adventure begin. Such an intense, moving, touching film. Highly recommended.

I consider myself a fan of Paolo Virzì movies and this one did not disappoint me. And yet, I always come back with that feeling that he seems to be always just a step away from an accomplished masterpiece. Like Crazy easily passes the minimum threshold of getting one involved and watch it to the end, in fact more than that. At 2 hours it's a longish movie whose end arrives sooner than expected. There's however something not quite fully realized in it, might it be the cutting, the repetition of certain schemes, the un-natural behavior of some of the characters. It's a bit like a poem where a few rhymes don't quite rhyme or the hidden meaning doesn't quite come through. The acting is certainly not to be faulted: if this were a Hollywood movie, Micaela Ramazzotti would have undoubtedly qualified for an Oscar nomination. Bruni Tedeschi is great too but a bit over the top here and there. A better cutting would have been a great help, too as some themes are a bit repetitive. Taking away some 5 or 10 minutes would have greatly improved the flowing of the narration. What can I say, I appreciate everything Virzì has done so far, he's surely a great director but I'm still expecting and betting that his best has yet to come.

I found this film by accident and did not regret a moment watching it. Depression is a maladies of our times. Of the modern society. As well as bipolar disorder, these are some illnesses that people frown upon or are reluctant to discuss.

This movie depicts the effects of these diseases and shows more than one inconvenient truths. Balancing between the world of the ill and the real life, it shows how it is to live with a sickness like that and how little distance exists between these people and the ones that are considered healthy.

The leading actors were breathtaking. Being able to act as a bipolar in such a way is not an easy task. This movie has lessons in store for everyone that is interested in seeing what these people go through. And as far as statistics go, you probably have some people in your midst that deal or have dealt with similar issues.

This is not an easy movie. Don't get fooled by the "comedy" genre. It has some comic moments but it's mostly a punch in the stomach if you're up to the task of watching it.