Bread & Tulips (DVD)

Price: $22.95

From Amazon.com Italy's magical fantasy of midlife crisis and rebirth in Venice, the city of lovers, swept the Italian film awards and charmed all of Europe. Director Silvio Soldini turns the tourist mecca of piazzas, canals, and stone bridges into a quaint little village out of time and fills the film with the charm of the city and the gentle quirks of his delightful cast. Licia Maglietta is winning as Rosalba, the frustrated and ignored middle-aged mom who impulsively takes a vacation from her family. She hitchhikes to Venice and falls for lonely, suicidal Icelandic waiter-poet Bruno Ganz (whose soulful, sad eyes recall his fallen angel from Wings of Desire), blossoming as she rediscovers her smile and joy for life. Sweetly sexy and beautifully shot, this story of second chances may not be original or surprising (think Shirley Valentine), but it's no less lovely or enchanting for it. --Sean Axmaker Review A kissing cousin of Lewis Gilbert's Shirley Valentine, Bread and Tulips is housewife revolt at its most passive, and romantic comedy at its most slight. As Rosalba (Licia Maglietta) becomes gradually unhinged from her existence as a disrespected mother and wife, the viewer senses her liberation without feeling the urge to celebrate it. This agreeable indifference points to an ingrained detachment that the film can't shake, even as it quickens the plodding pace and grows more enjoyably eccentric in the telling. Its strong suit is the flawed humanity of its central characters: the lonely restaurant owner with the extensive vocabulary, the new agey neighbor/ditzy masseuse, and the hapless plumber turned private eye (who is constantly hectored by the manic serenade of his mobile phone). The film's weakness, however, is what it does with them, or rather doesn't do, over the course of a lengthy yet surprisingly surface-level character study. Atmosphere and tone make up for some of this deficit, but Venice is not the vibrant character it could have been.

Have Your Say 

Sign in or Sign up to comment.

More from Columbia TriStar