MLogo Reviews

Mid-August Lunch (2008)

A delight

[9/10 · 6 April 2009]

I loved this movie! It's a little movie that totally captivated me. It's the story of a middle-aged unmarried man who lives in Rome with his mother. Money is obviously tight but they seem to live a very nice life. Unfortunately, the condominium bills keep piling up. So when the head of the condominium offers to forgive the expenses in return for his caring for the condo head's mother for 2 days (over Ferragosto), he agrees. When the mother shows up, an aunt also comes - obviously a packaged deal. Through another act of fate, another elderly woman comes to share the overnight experience. The women are wonderful as is the main actor (Gianni DiGregorio) - he is also the writer and director. He was at the showing I attended and shared some interesting info. These women are not actors. One is his aunt and one is a family friend. He found the other two at a home for the elderly. Said he interviewed 100 women and had trouble deciding because so many were so wonderful. The crew was exhausted at the end of the day - these women were on a roll - and all were over 90 years old. The apartment in which he lived was actually the apartment in which he had lived with his mother. This was a low- budget film which was one of the reasons that he starred in the film, i.e., he couldn't afford to hire a "real" actor. Thank you Gianni for a wonderful movie!

Home (II) (2008)

A house is not a home

[8/10 · 3 April 2009]

While I am normally not a fan of bizarre movies, I found this one fascinating. I saw it with the director present - so a few things were explained that would otherwise not be obvious. It is the story of a family who live in a house close to a yet-to-be-finished highway - very close, like right at the guardrail. There is absolutely nothing else in the area. It is not clear whether they own the house or are squatters. They have incorporated the highway into their daily lives, e.g., the son rides his bike back and forth and there is an easy chair out there where they can relax. The authorities decide to complete the highway - and their lives change (that's putting it mildly). They go from a family who seem very happy in their bucolic home setting to an existence filled with traffic, incessant noise, and pollution. In an attempt to get some much-needed quiet, they wall themselves into the house.

The idea for the story came from the writers' observing houses along highways that are incredibly close to the road and wondering what life must be like, both for the people who live in the houses and those who have abandoned the houses. And instead of the people on the road observing the life of the people who live there, it's the people who live there who are observing those on the road.

Since the location is so strange, it turns out that the house and highway are actually in Bulgaria, although a number of other countries were scouted. And the ending which may appear obvious to many people can actually be open to interpretation.