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Genova (2008)

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Time Out rating

Average user rating

10 reviews

Synopsis

The British director shot this grief-tinged ghost story in Italy last summer. Written by Laurence Coriat (‘Wonderland’), it stars Colin Firth and Catherine Keener.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Grief and tears, sun and sex: Michael Winterbottom rides his globe-trotting indie charabanc into the Italian city of Genova to tell a moving story of loss and displacement that’s light on its feet and heavy with emotion.

Winterbottom fires the film’s ignition in its tense opening scenes: a young American mother (Hope Davis) is driving in winter when she suffers an accident which kills her. Left behind are husband Joe (Colin Firth, below) and two girls, 16-year-old Kelly (Willa Holland) and ten-year-old Mary (Perla Haney-Jardine). Once the funeral and five months have passed, the family opt to move to Italy, where Joe will teach at the same university as Barbara (Catherine Keener), an old friend from years back. New country, new city, new start – as announced by the trumpeting sound over the opening credits of Georges Delerue’s ‘Grand Choral’ and the sight of dazzling aerial shots of Genova: Truffaut meets Google Earth.

The city in the searing heat of summer becomes a backdrop for an energetic examination of grief and renewal as each of the trio negotiates a new life with the memory of the old one fresh in the mind. We dash about the city, sucking in every alley and remote corner. Education touches them all: a sexual one for Kelly, whose hormones go loopy at the sight of Mediterranean boys, piano lessons for both girls and open discussions between Joe and his students – perhaps the film’s weakest episodes – about the Italian national character (‘Has the euro had any impact on a sense of Italian identity?’ he asks. Thankfully, Winterbottom doesn’t linger too long here.)

Three strong performances, with Firth as a sensitive lynchpin, reinforce the tenderness of the father-daughter relationship. But Winterbottom is also interested in what keeps us apart and he explores those areas even a loving parent can’t reach: young Mary screams out at night and sees her dead mother in windows and on the streets, while Kelly finds comfort in a boyfriend. Her blossoming sexuality puts a similar distance between her and her younger sister. Meanwhile, Joe puts up his own barriers: he’ll only let Barbara and a young student admirer so close before clamming up and raising his defences.

Laurence Coriat, the director’s co-writer on this film, also scripted ‘Wonderland’ and again their work together has produced a film in which the city’s texture and the emotions of its characters are at one. Comparisons have been made with ‘Don’t Look Now’, but that’s a bit misleading: this isn’t a supernatural story, even if Mary does ‘see’ her mother. Yet what ‘Genova’ does share with Nic Roeg’s film is an awareness of how claustrophobic – and liberating – it can be to mix a strange city with devastating loss. It’s at once a deeply sad film and a deeply truthful and optimistic one.

Author: Dave Calhoun 2009-03-24 09:54:35

Time Out London Issue 2014, March 26 – April 1, 2009

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User reviews of this film

John Gent said...

Posted on Nov 09 2009 22:17 It would be more entertaining to watch paint dry than to sit through this pathetic, unbelievable story. It had a mildly interesting start,crawled through an aimless middle section, then finished, thank God, with a whimper. Colin Firth, as always, played Colin Firth. Avoid this film at all cost, better to join a knitting class.

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SquirrelOwl said...

Posted on Nov 07 2009 10:32 The dullest film I have ever had the misfortune of watching.
Nothing happens - NOTHING! I didn't even feel the sense of loss that is so apparant. I felt the family seemed to move on pretty well.
There are hints that something might happen during several sinister scenes in alleyways with various undesirables looking at the sisters but then they get home fine and nothing happens. Great.

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Steve said...

Posted on Oct 08 2009 19:44 I thought it was a lovely film. I don't know 'Don't look now' so cannot compare but I thought this was touching and memorable. I thought it was good nothing much happened and that the film concentrated on the development of characters and their relationships. I think it is the mark of a good film when nothing much can happen but you do get transported away anyway. The music and photography were great too. What is it about movies in European streets?

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Prodnose said...

Posted on Sep 11 2009 20:14 The city of Genova (Genoa) itself is the star of this film. Although I enjoyed the film, it finished very suddenly with several story threads still dangling. Especially, the tiresome and dishonest skinny teenage daughter did not get her comeuppance. I enjoyed the film, but felt a bit cheated.

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Sophia said...

Posted on Sep 09 2009 22:35 The only interesting thing about this film is the way it was shot. I despise stories where nothing ever happens, and you've forgotten the entire movie 10 seconds after seeing it. I would not recommend it to anyone, and it should not be compared to 'Don't look now'. Other than the fact they both deal with grief set in Italy, they have nothing in common. All in all, an utterly pointless film, and a waste of time.

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Rohne Hill said...

Posted on Sep 09 2009 18:49 The comparisons to Don't Look now are incredibly stark and I dare say deliberate.
However Winterbottom is able to extrapolate that films sense of lingering, haunting loss, dicovery of the new territories after death and some of the impending foreign dread free from narrative scaffolding.
This allows him to explore those aspects far more throroughly.
Charecteristically Winterbottom has a fine eye but perhaps the film as a whole is just a little too delicate for my tastes on that day.

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Nic Niewart said...

Posted on Aug 06 2009 20:08 To think It's the same film as DON'T LOOK NOW.Both are family moves to Italy after bereavement.Only this is dull, dark as in no budget for lighting, and further dullness. The thing I remember about this is the obvious coarse placement of RYANAIR logos on the trip over. Really a poor piece of sloppy film making and the star's already wooden features did little to liven up the dialogue. I wouldn't rent it if it was free.

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Gillian said...

Posted on Mar 29 2009 15:40 Looking forward to this Movie it looks really great and very well done by all the cast. Colin firth is my favourite actor so I know I will enjoy it more

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hannah said...

Posted on Mar 27 2009 22:40 beautiful and saddening story. dynamics between passing good moments and terrible moments in a life of someone who has just lost someone important are very well balanced.

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freya said...

Posted on Mar 26 2009 19:32 I saw a preview of "Genova". One of the best films I've seen in ages. Beautifully shot with fine performances by all the cast. Another winner for Michael Winterbottom.

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