Film Review: Italian for Beginners (Italiensk for begyndere, 2000)

11 months ago (Edited)

(source: tmdb.org)

Dogme 95 can be described as one of the last major art movements in the history of cinema. Based on the manifesto created by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, two celebrated Danish film directors, its insistence on austere filmmaking techniques, designed to bring cinema back to its roots, almost always associated it with the world of dark, depressive, or at least, serious dramas. Within a matter of years, Dogme 95 films began to diversify in genres, starting with Søren Kragh-Jacobsen and his 1999 comedy Mifune. Gradually, these genres became more Hollywood-like, a process that became evident with Italian for Beginners, a 2000 romantic comedy written and directed by Lone Scherfig.

The plot is set in a small Danish town and revolves around six characters who attend an Italian class at night school. Andreas (played by Anders W. Berthelsen) is a newly arrived pastor who becomes attracted to Olympia (played by Anette Støvelbæk), a local baker whose job suffers because of her clumsiness. Hal-Finn (played by Lars Kaalund) is a former hotel employee who gets a job as a teacher and holds class after his predecessor has died. The class is attended by Karen (played by Ann Eleonora Jørgensen), with whom Hal-Finn starts an affair. Hal-Finn’s former boss, Jørgen Mortensen (played by Peter Ganzler), is attracted to Hal-Finn's Italian friend Giulia (played by Sara Indrio Jensen).

While Lone Scherfig remained within the technical confines of the Dogme 95 Manifesto—no artificial lighting, no period settings, no music—her script was clearly in the realm of romantic comedy, albeit more in the style of American independent cinema than mainstream Hollywood. Characters are quirky, but generally believable and played by experienced actors. The humour isn’t anything to write home about, but the realistic style makes humorous situations stand out, just as the realistic approach works well when comedy is mixed with somewhat darker plot elements like domestic abuse, mental illness, physical disability, and suicides. Italian for Beginners nevertheless retains just enough charm to be enjoyed by all but the most jaded audience, and the generally good impression will remain even with the predictably corny ending. Italian for Beginners won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, but its reputation was later overshadowed by the discovery that the script had been based on Evening Class, a 1996 novel by Irish author Maeve Binchy, a fact recognised by producers only years later following legal action.

RATING: 6/10 (++)