Amanda

Amanda (2022) easily fits the canon of girlhood in film as established by Virgin Suicides (1999) and Ghost World (2001), but also echoes the listless coming-of-age exploration of Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959). A character study, the film follows its eponymous protagonist, while Amanda (played by Benedetta Porcaroli) stumbles through life with the wide-eyed grace of newborn Bambi. The setting is that of a town in northern Italy, with the narrative taking to the streets, stopping under a bypass for a rave party, making observations in the darkness of a cinema theatre, and at the dinner table of an aloof bourgeois family.

What sets Amanda apart from the aforementioned pictures is the age of the heroine: twenty-four. As she is continuously reminded by her family, by now Amanda really should know how to make friends, or pay for her own place, or get a grasp on life. In the course of the narrative, it becomes apparent that her inexperience is not for a lack of trying - yet, her very nature is often at odds with her ambitions.

In the aftermath of the pandemic, this story of loneliness, of characters whose lives often shrink to the size of their bedrooms, of overthinking and interruptions, of one's most candid relationship being with the virtual assistant that lives in your phone - all of that has become relatable to audiences for whom the experiences would otherwise remain foreign. On par with Marcel, le Coquillage (avec ses chaussures) (2021), Amanda is among the most considered explorations of forced solitude, such as those exist in the 2020s.

Friendship, romance, family, and self-determination are examined in Carolina Cavalli's directorial debut with a lot of style, thought, and humour. Much like in life, no conclusions are offerred, but the film creates an engrossing atmoshere and plenty of suggestions. Music choices and casting (so many interesting faces!) are noteworthy, as are the performances by Monica Nappo as Sofia, Amanda's mother, and Benedetta Porcaroli, who lends her force and charm to the protagonist.

If the real treasure is the friends we make along the way, Amanda makes a convincing argument about the value of relationships that do not happen: they inform our other choices. That may seem wistful, but the film skillfully balances its meditative quality with the unrelenting optimism of its heroine, for whom all roads remain open.

I was so happy to see Amanda, the first movie by a young and very promising Italian director!

It's a indie movie that explores solitude and lack of meaning and purpose in the rich world, in a comic way, to cathartically laugh about it.

All characters show different traits of malaise: Amanda the protagonist, an entitled girl with a strong and straightforward attitude, doesn't have any friends and purpose in life. She relentlessly tries to meet people in a world where everybody seems to be surrounded by equally introvert individuals too scared and lost to connect. In techno raves one can be together without communicating with the others and, conversely, on chatroulette one can talk to random strangers without having them close, in both ways there seems to be no meaningful communication.

The girl that is to become friend of Amanda shows another side of loneliness, she has cut herself out of the world and doesn't want to have any interaction with the others, living in a state of calm apathy.

These girls, two wealthy outcasts, are an hymn to being different and they also remember us, along with their problematic family members, that wealth has also its downsides.

The movie lingers on bizarre scenes and dialogues that are reminiscent of Sorrentino imagery, the plot is original and unpredictable. Here and there there are hints at other themes like consumerism (the idealisation of objects, and they might even substitute loved ones) and religion (a perceived oddity in a secular world) that delight the spectator with unexpected surreal witty fun.

The city where the action takes place is never intentionally mentioned (in the real world it is Turin, probably not even just that but also different places across Piedmont region), I think it is meant to be a generic first world city where first world issues take place. The urban scenes in neon light convey a sense of anonymity and, in their own way, so do the rich villas.

I am looking forward to seeing the next movies by Carolina Cavalli! I am so happy to see a new star rising in Italian cinema.

6.8... the difference between this rating and 10 (or 9 which is a more balanced vote, but I don't care) is the difference between the most refined AND/OR underground viewers' tastes and actually refined tastes.

Amanda is unbelievably funny, well written, well acted, original: elegant yet powerful; simple yet rich.

So rich that I had to watch it in 3 sessions to digest everything - but it may well be more something about me rather than about the movie. Still I felt so satisfied that I didn't want it to end.

I wouldn't know where to start with the details and I fell lazy and not particularly inspired (just like after a great banquet) so I'll leave the reader with more questions than answers. All I feel compelled to add is that this movie is an incredible, wholesome trip through incommunicability, the difficulties of social interactions and everyone's silly thoughts & mental dysfunctions.

First feature of the writer-director Carolina Cavalli who hopefully will keep producing such great quality.

Some hope in the desert that is the italian film industry: can't wait to see what's next!

"Amanda" (Benedetta Porcaroli) is a rather indulged twenty-something who has no friends and lives a pretty isolated life devoid of any company that isn't from her immediate - and pretty dysfunctional - family. "Sofia" (Monica Nappo) is her mother and suggests that she goes to see "Rebecca" (Galatéa Bellugi) who is the equally lonesome daughter of her friend "Viola" (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) - only this girl hardly ever leaves her room in their rather ugly, fortress-like, concrete home. After a bit of a Mexican stand-off, the two gradually start to re-bond (they were childhood friends) but you just get the feeling that an upset is never far away - for any of them. It's a quirkily enjoyable film this with two strong performances from the girls and a scene-stealing bath tub scenario involving "Sofia" too. It is funny, offering a sort of observational wit rather than a chortle sort of humour and there are a couple of sub-plots - a boyfriend and an horse - just to ease the temperature a little now and again and allow us to recalibrate on the relationship between the girls and, increasingly, the enigmatic "Ann". There's not really a start or an end, it's just a middle we get here and it works because I'm not sure these girls really made much progress. It doesn't need a cinema, it'll work perfectly well on the telly so give it a go.

Quirky whimsy, but aside from a few laughs and interesting storytelling choices, there was not enough heart. Plotless. Amanda might have Borderline Personality Disorder, she tries to force a friendship with a similarly but differently neurodivergent girl, while also trying to secure her first boyfriend. Surreal scenes, quirky little things like having her AI address her as "Sexy Mamma", her irregular friendship with the housemaid, and a horse she connects with better than humans, some witty dialogue. This is no spoiler except to say that there is nothing to spoil. Because the synopsis is all that it is. By the end, we are still unsure whether Amanda has finally found a new friend; everything is too unstable and surreal to say for sure.

This is Carolina Cavalli's directorial debut. The potential is here; her talent is evident. Her other contribution was as co-writer-but not as co-director- on "Fremont", which was significantly more engaging and successful. Anticipating Cavalli's sophomore directorial effort, here is to looking forward to her directing skills matching her writing caliber!