The first part of this film portrays very grim reality with a forthrightness not often experienced in a non-documentary film. It is a relentless cavalcade of death, either shown or described. Spoken, about wives who have died in terrible ways; shown, parents who die in miserable circumstances. And a teacher dying in front of his students. All in the first half-hour. And, to be sure, extremely powerfully and expertly filmed. And then a fairy god-mother shows up, a nurse who conspires and covers up the euthanasia killing of one of our main character's mother. And this leads to revelations and relationships that transform the stories of our characters to the never-land of movie happily-ever-after. It is all extremely well written and performed; contrary to other critiques, the so-called "low production values" work very well throughout. The euthansia-girl, Karen, is especially well acted and believable throughout. And attractive, in a very real sense, with a blemished face and all. The happy-ever-after fantasy of the last part of the film can be looked upon as a catharsis, or just candy for the masses, or the way lives can be pulled up from the depths. It all can work, if a viewer wishes. But it is the unrelenting and honest depiction of real-life misery in the first part of the film that gives the film its real quality and qualifies the film as an important achievement.
Review of Italian for Beginners
