Amore

I can't describe the power of this film, and I can't stop thinking about it either. There's a negative review on here that says to go see MICHAEL CLAYTON instead and not to waste your time. Well, if a movie about plot, overly drawn characters and artifice, all shot by the book, is what you're looking for, then yes... this probably isn't the movie for you.

But if you like people more than stories. If you want to see film-making at its most graceful and organic and inventive, if you want a musical score that will turn a sidelong glance into an operatic overture, then this IS the movie for you. It is a baroque masterwork. A cathedral of a film. Cold as stone but inspiring the soul.

Tilda Swinton is a goddess. She says so little, but communicates so much. There's an entire ocean of emotion inside or her, spilling out of her eyes. I cried twice at this film. Once because of the subject matter and then again at the delicacy of the film-making. Don't let people with conservative tastes and conventional ideas of film and story tell you not to go see this movie. They are robbing you of experiencing pure emotive cinema.

The ever-versatile Tilda Swinton stars as a Russian-born Italian in Luca Guadagnino's film 'I am Love', which is beautifully filmed, well-observed and acted with a nice sense of understatement. Yet this tale of a wealthy family suffers somewhat from the basic irrelevance of its drama. Being happy is a challenge for everyone, even for the rich, but a story where the characters are essentially free to choose their own lives can feel slight, and although part of the point here is that the individuals concerned are prisoners of their own privilege, the point is made without any satirical venom - the tears of the servant, crying over the departure of her mistress at the end of the film, are shown without irony. Although there are details to enjoy here, I found it hard to sympathise with any of the characters over any of the others. It's not a bad film, but a social dimension to match its emotional one might have added to its impact.

This is an impeccably designed melodrama in the classic Italian and Hollywood sense. It pays homage to Visconti, Sirk etc. in the same (but different) way that Almodovar pays homage to them (over and over again). But for a film that takes itself utterly seriously, it really has absolutely nothing to say. It glides through its themes and events without the least interest in developing any of them, all the director is interested in is the aesthetic and dramatic effect that they might offer. In fact, it is all effect. The dialogue is quite often stilted, perhaps in the manner that the dialogue can often see stilted in the classic films that he is trying to emulate, but when they're in London (for a meeting in the city...cue the Gherkin...)...the dialogue isn't stilted, it's incomprehensible...

What he lacks in substance, he makes up for in style, the World of Interiors set design is impeccable, and indeed is the star of the film, as is the wardrobe, all that's missing is the catwalk. But the camera work and editing is incoherent and gratuitous and works against the film at all times. He is using the visual language of an artist video piece to tell the story of lush soap opera...Guadagnino really throws everything he can at the spectator in order to reinvent the genre, but the result is clumsy and often annoying.

That said, this is at least a brave albeit flawed attempt at film-making, the actors look the part, which is all they're expected to do, and mostly pull off the clumsy dialogue, and there are some genuinely moving moments, if only visually. The music heightens the drama to such a pitch that sometimes you're not sure whether to laugh or explode. What could have been a great film was in the end, an often frustrating but nevertheless intense cinematic experience.

Greetings again from the darkness. A really good film from writer/director Luca Guadagnino and a terrific performance from Tilda Swinton. The film centers on power and family and trust and self-discovery ... and the complexities of each.

As a young, working class Russian, Emma (Tilda Swinton) is whisked away to marriage and life in the aristocracy of Milan. She dutifully raises her kids and organizes huge dinners and parties at their mansion as the Rechhi's entertain business clients and their own family. It is during these parties that we realize Emma is technically part of the family, but really is still an outsider. She escapes to her own space once the events are running smoothly.

Being an avid cook herself, she easily clicks with a brilliant young chef introduced to the family by her own son. Very little doubt where it's headed at this point as Emma unleashes the pent up energy she has been forced to hide. While we are very aware that the upper crust has learned to look the other way with infidelity, that's not the case with the Rechhi's and their Russian wife/mother.

The brilliance in the film is that it shows how the younger generation doesn't really fit any better than Emma. The difference is that they are part of the fabric and will be allowed more rope than an outsider. Still it is painful to watch Emma and her son, who can't quite adapt to the family business. Better yet, to watch her with her daughter, who confesses her preference for other women. Emma sees herself in these two, but doesn't have the same freedom. Her best ally is the caretaker who seems to understand the multiple levels on which this family functions.

Fascinating interactions and complex writing make this a film for film lovers. There is so little dialogue, but so much is said with a glance or head nod. Many U.S. writers could learn a thing or two. Must also mention the startling score by John Adams. It is quite operatic, which plays along with the themes of the film.

During the past decade, Tilda Swinton has proved herself to be a very adept actress. I've never heard of Luca Guadagnino, but their collaboration "Io sono l'amore" ("I Am Love" in English) presents an interesting and slightly chilling look at a wealthy Italian family.

The focus is the fictional Recchi clan in Milan, and Emma (Swinton) is a Russian woman who married into the family and pretty much turned her back on her Slavic identity. Her husband Tancredi (Pippo Delbono) is the son of industrialist Edoardo (Gabrielle Ferzetti), for whom a party is thrown where he announces that he is handing the business to his son.

By this point, it starts to become apparent that Emma's life feels incomplete. Maybe it's the weirdness of a life where one is always surrounded by extended family and getting waited on hand and foot - and how the extended family seems determined to organize all relationships - or maybe it's the surprise at learning of her daughter Elisabetta's (Alba Rohrwacher) lesbianism. But when Emma's son Edoardo Jr. (Flavio Parenti) introduces her to chef Antonio (Edoardo Gabriellini), who prepared the cake, this begins a new chapter in Emma's life.

Throughout the movie, it seemed that the food acted as a metaphor: Emma was starting to taste a whole side of her existence about which she'd never known. Maybe the food and other visuals were a little overstated throughout the movie, but I think that the end result was a good one. To be certain, there was a scene in the movie that made me feel as though I'd just stopped breathing - you'll know it when you see it - and I think that what Emma does at the end is the only thing that she could have done. I recommend the movie.

PS: Marisa Berenson, who plays Allegra, previously starred in "Death in Venice" and "Cabaret". She is the sister of actress Berry Berenson, who married "Psycho" star Anthony Perkins and was in one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.