italian for beginners

[martino]

you know all about dogme films, don't you? the new wave of low-tech movies started in denmark in '95, with all shooting done on location, no stunts, using hand-held cameras, etc?

(if you don't, and you are interested, then read "feature filmmaking at used car prices" by rick schmidt -- the book that vin diesel used to get into the film industry though he only had background as a night-club bouncer ).

anyway, "italian for beginners" is one of my favorite dogme movies and equally, the nicest movie i've seen this year.

it's about a mixed bag of danish misfits -- a hairdresser, an impotent sports arena manager, a choleric restaurant waiter, a maserati-driving priest -- who struggle with tragedy, their own inadequacies, their impossible familes -- and find salvation and love through an adult education class and a trip to venice, italy.

the movie has it all: sex, death, hilarious humor, you name it. it's all about the acting and the script. it has no car chases, no manipulative market-research-tested tearjerking, no hype. and it's been running in european cities for three months now.

[mccutcheon]

I'm going to try and see this film. Thanks Martino. It's playing a few blocks from where I live.