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Synopsis

This often incisive, intelligently-observed portrait of a family in emotional turmoil works as an ensemble drama in the same way as such successes as The Last Kiss and Le Fate Ignoranti . It also bears the surface similarities to Comencini’s more light-hearted 1998 hit Marriages in its focus on the emotional upheavals of different generations within an extended family and also in its choice of sophisticated French cinema as a model. The result is a highly-refined soap opera that aims to take the pulse of the modern Italian family, in particular the attitudes of women, toward themselves, their sexuality and their roles.

The mainstay of the well-heeled Roman clan is widowed grandmother Irene (Virna Lisil), who lives alone in a decaying family villa. Irene’s three grown children share a troubled relationship with the still active but brittle woman.

Since the death of her husband, Sara (Margherita Buy) lives in emotional solitude, unable to open up even to her adolescent son, Marco (Francesco Scianna).

Rita (Sandra Ceccarelli) has been going through the motions of her marriage to Carlo (Marco Baliani) while fighting a powerful attraction to another man (Jean-Hugues Anglade).

Claudio (Luigi Lo Cascio) feels detached from the family, initially able to accept himself as a gay man only through sexual contact without emotional ties, despite the offer of support from a loving partner (Marco Quaglial).

Like Comencini’s other work, it is largely about writing and performance. Fabio Cianchetti’s elegant widescreen lensing of the Roman locations and composer Franco Piersanti’s melancholy string score give the production a polished veneer.