Salt of Life
Our first film of the season is a delightful Italian comedy by screenwriter/director/actor Gianni Di Gregorio who has been described as a cross between his countryman Fellini and Woody Allen. It is a continuation of Mid-August Lunch which we showed two seasons ago.
A gloomy househusband in late middle-age is dominated by his mother, disenchanted by his marriage and obsessed with the last chance of romantic adventure. Di Gregorio, no matinee idol, is the hangdog, melancholy hero. Poignantly unattractive, his face lights up with a nervous, heartbreakingly overeager grin whenever any of his putative conquests favour him with a smile.
Gianni's nonagenarian mother, gloriously reprised by Valeria De Franciscis, telephones him at all hours, demanding attention. Is Salt of Life an indulgent commentary on the Italian male in general and the toxic absurdity of Silvio Berlusconi in particular, or about the terrible, onward march of old age an the delusions that go with it.
Link to trailer
