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Eugenio (2003)
Director: Francisco Josè Fernandez
Movie review
From Time Out London
Released to some acclaim in Italy in 2002, this sentimental drama finally arrives on these shores to serve a season of Italian films at the Riverside Studios and does nothing to reverse the current negative view of Italian cinema. Eugenio (Giancarlo Giannini) is a middle-aged man with Down’s syndrome whose self-sufficiency amazes his friends and family. Not only does he cook for himself and keep a clean house, but he even volunteers at a local hospital! What a hero! And disabled too! Surprise, surprise: it’s Eugenio who has something to teach us all about life… Eugenio strikes up a friendship with a mute young woman, Laura (Chiara de Bonis), who is recovering from a serious car accident and who, thanks to various script convolutions, finally allows Eugenio to reconnect with a love from his childhood. Copious flashbacks and whimsical music drive along this soppy affair, and Giannini roots his performance in a demented Cheshire grin through which you expect him to mouth the words ‘Give me a gong’ (and, lo, the Italians did just that). For chronic melancholics and serial Kleenex-abusers only.Author: DC
Time Out London Issue 1825: August 10-17, 2005
Cast & crew
Director: Francisco Josè Fernandez
Producer: Giovanni Schettini
Cast: Giancarlo Giannini, Giuliana De Sio, Arnoldo Foà, Jacques Perrin, Riccardo Garrone full cast
Duration: 90 mins
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