The Power of the Past

Children's author Gianni (Rubini) fears he's encountered a creepy stalker, when an older stranger (Ganz) appears to know everything about him. But the stranger has arrived to reveal the incredible truth about Gianni's late father. The writer's established family life quickly unfolds, and we learn that 'everyone has their own reality'. Propelled by their fertile imaginations, the leads are a quirky, winning duo: Ganz all hazy melancholy, and Rubini as a 40-something in second adolescence, right down to his taste in rock music. Even when the story meanders into soppiness, it's laced with an enjoyably pert sense of humour. (From a novel by Sandro Veronesi.) AHa.