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renzo-gilardoni
Reviews
L'ultimo bacio (2001)
Real life and real emotions but doesn't asks some meaningful questions
I watched and loved this movie the first time I saw it, but I watched it again not long ago that I turned 30 years old and the first thing it comes to my mind is: WHY, WHY are men and women SUPPOSED or EXPECTED to "grow up" when they turn 30??. WHY they are SUPPOSED or EXPECTED to raise kids when they turn 30?? Just WHY??.
The main story of the plot which revolves around Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) and Gulia (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), who have been together for 3 years, until she gets pregnant and Carlo's inner feelings and inner self are shaking because he is so unsure of himself and what he really wants. Does he want to settle down and live like a "grown up"?? Or does he want to feel free and escape from this seeming prison cell that he thinks his life will turn out to be?? His female partner of course has no doubts about what her desires are and what she wants for herself and for THEM, but her partner always seems to be just reacting, almost sitting by while she plans all their future together. Although I think that this portrayal of Carlo is totally coherent with his childish and weak demeanor, this also illustrates how unbalanced the relationship between Carlo and Gulia really was.
Anyway, when Carlo meets Francesca (Martina Stella), a stunning, gorgeous high school girl who clearly is attracted to him, his existential and inner doubts starts to come to surface to the point that he is unable to cope with them, until he just let himself go and succumbs to the almost irresistible temptation, taking to heart Oscar Wilde's well-known saying "The best way to get rid of a temptation is to fall in it", remember??. Of course he fails to address the whole issue that passion has gone with Gulia before cheating on her, but as a man I can understand why. But the whole sequence of the cheating, starting from the teenager party, going through the big fight, and then ending up in his love making with Francesca, clearly shows that Carlo was absolutely disturbed and had no clue about what he really wanted. I mean, he first cheated with "just a kiss", restrained himself from sleeping with Francesca so that he could continue to play out his charade with Giulia, but fails to do so because the charade was just so poorly elaborate and after she discovers the whole charade and forces him to recognize the cheating and kicks him out of anger, he finds nothing better to do than bounce back and goes to sleep with his object of desire. But then after their love making he suddenly realizes that he is out of place at her side and decides to bounce back (again) and try to fix things up with Giulia, not realizing that he was totally using Francesca almost as sex toy to give him pleasure, failing to treat her as a human being regardless that she was a teenager. I'm not trying to redeem Francesca, she was clearly trying to bust Carlo's relationship, but Carlo always told her only half truths and in her innocence and naiveté she seemed to truly believe they could be together. She was being authentic to her teenager nature, but Carlo should have known better before sleeping with her.
And then, after he screwed it all up, he tries by all means to get rid of Francesca, she was no longer useful to him, and decides to make an all-out attempt to win back Giulia, finally dumping Francesca in a painful scene. Painful because Francesca was not mature and experienced enough to know the sour realities of life, like that you can't expect to build a relationship just out of physical attraction, and she was trying desperately to win Carlo for her in any way. I think that the gesture of the gift was well meaning on her part, but her last emotional outburst was a little bit too much. I wonder if Italian teenagers do actually behave like that. I believe that she should have kept some restraint and dignity after Carlo dumped her. She acted with no pride, and it's such a pity to see a beautiful teenager acting like that, she could have had any man she wanted, anyone better than Carlo, but she was so obsessed with him that it seems she could not see this. All the finale, Carlo's getting rid of Francesca, and the subsequent reconciliation with Giulia, seems to me just a little too much convenient. I believe he never really faced the fundamental existential issue that was right in front of him, and instead chose to yield and take the easy way out, just like when he cheated on Giulia. He was far too weak to try to take the hard way and truly learn a stern lesson, which could have been to go on with his life by himself and discover what he really wanted, maybe trying a relationship with Francesca even if it was only to realize that it would not work, or maybe just staying single and arrange a judicial agreement to see his future daughter. But it seemed that somewhat he was trying to convince himself that what he was doing what was right, not because he truly believed in it, but because it was socially EXPECTED. In that way he was only deceiving himself. The reconciliation scene seems to imply that. That's the way I would interpret it.
All in all, I enjoyed this movie and its characters performances, specially Francesca and Giulia, they were realistic to me, but the men were just a little too weak for their male nature. I highly recommend this movie.
Home Room (2002)
Excellent movie about human relationships
As I have read in other reviews, this movie is not about school shootings but rather about its consequences on the people who go through it. And I like that this movie doesn't try to find answers that are simple not that easy to find. One thing I've learned about human beings and human emotions is that two plus two doesn't usually equals four, and when it comes to such atrocities such as school shootings that are committed by human beings, there are not really logical or rational answers that you can find just by establishing a cause-effect relation. I remember listening to Sec. Defense Robert McNamara saying that "it's not that we are not rational, we are rational, but reason has limits". He was talking about the nature of war, and how this was done by human individuals. I think the same goes to school shootings.
And so, this movie centers on the relationship between two high school students who were present at the shooting, one who was left seriously wounded (Deanna Cartwright, played by Erika Christensen) and the other who survived the shooting unharmed (Alicia Browning, played by Busy Philipps) and knew the shooter personally. And who by the way are total opposites. I can't think of another two characters who differ more in almost every aspect of their background and personalities except one, and in the end they end up understanding each other and also caring for each other. But at first things are not easy for these two young women and they do not get along at all. Although from the start Deanna is friendly and polite with Alicia, Alicia does nothing but hurt her and lash out at her with sarcasm and harsh remarks. But gradually they begin to get past their differences and start to get along, despite Alicia attacks Deanna with some sarcasm from time to time. What is more remarkable about this movie is that it stresses something that people usually forget, and that is the meaninglessness of money and material wealth when it comes to dealing with tragedy and loss. Look at Deanna, who seemed to have it all, money, good grades, driving a BMW, etc. but it only took a traumatic and tragic event for her to be "dying inside" and even contemplate suicide. There is something of a cliché saying which says something like "when you are up everybody wants to be your friend, but when you are down you know who your real friends are". And it is clear that Deanna had no real friends, even she herself acknowledges this to Alicia before ask her to leave. The only real friend for her turns out to be Alicia, the less likely friend she could have, because Alicia and Deanna had nothing in common, except that they both were lonely and enjoyed each other's company. You can see how Alicia really cared about Deanna, because even after Deanna asked her to leave and not to come back, she DID come back and searched for her and prevented her from committing suicide, and helped her to get over the sense of tragedy and loss and learn to live with it.
And for me the end of this movie was a fair reward to all what these two young women had gone through together, because they had learned to know each other and care for each other, and they deserved to let go themselves and share one sweet moment of pure humanity between themselves. That is what I liked the most about this movie, its earthiness, because the emotions of both girls were so human, so real, and for me shows the importance of the human side of people when it comes to form a real friendship.