Time Out says
The first few minutes threaten a weepie along the lines of Moretti’s ‘The Son’s Room’, but what unfolds involves a strange conceit that suggests a lower-budget American studio film seeking indie kudos: Pietro returns Claudia to school and proceeds to run his life from a nearby bench, honouring a promise that he’ll never stray far. He strikes up habits and acquaintances: there’s the blonde with the dog; the woman with a Down’s syndrome son who expects him to flash his lights; the guy that runs the local trattoria… Meanwhile, all sorts of shenanigans are unfolding at the office, culminating in a brief visit to the bench by a Richard Branson-type uber-exec played by a director whose identity I won’t reveal.
The film has flaws – not least an awkward use of songs by Radiohead, Rufus Wainwright and Stars – but it’s a thoughtful portrait of the purgatory of grief that prefers small incidences and exchanges over grand gestures of sentiment and revelation. It’s sad – but never cloying.
Release Details
- Release date:Friday 24 October 2008
- Duration:112 mins
Cast and crew
- Director:Antonello Grimaldi
- Screenwriter:Nanni Moretti, Sandro Veronesi
- Cast:
- Nanni Moretti
- Valeria Golino
- Isabella Ferrari
- Alessandro Gassman
- Blu Mankuma
- Blu Di Martino
- Silvio Orlando
- Hippolyte Girardot
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