Rating: 
Summary: Danish Dogma
Review: The Danish Dogma95 filmmaking movement requires that it's practicioners utilize natural lighting and sound and hand-held cameras. Dogma95 is a response to what they feel is the arcane manner in which movies have been made up to this point and a direct reaction especially to what is termed a "Hollywood Film."
It is hard to argue with this point of view and technique as Dogma95 has been behind such films as "The Celebration," "Together," "Breaking the Waves" and the provocative and wonderful, "Dancer in the Dark."
Lone Sherfig is the first woman to direct a Dogma95 production with her "Italian for Beginners." It is also the first time Dogma95 techniques have been used with comedic material even though there are deadly serious portions of IFB.
"Italian for Beginners" is the story of several 30 somethings...all looking for what they feel is unattainable: Love, Respect, Validation. They all come together once a week for Italian lessons, hence the title. There are three men: Andreas, Jorgen and Hal-Finn and three women: Karen, Olympia and Guilia and by the end of the movie they've all paired-up. This process is done in as light hearted a manner as possible, though each has a sadness in their past or present that must be dealt with before the movie can inevitably achieve it's happy ending.
Scherfig applies a very serious approach to this material; along with the in-your-face camera and microphone work that heightens rather than flattens-out the words spoken and the performances given, which elevates IFB from a piece of fluff it could have been (think "Bread and Tulips") to the serious though very funny film it turns out to be.
The magic of Dogma95 is that, by way of their techniques, which are not new and many have been borrowed from documentary film , is that all artifice is removed. The actors are in a perilous position with the camera right on top of them, catching every glint and flicker of their eyes; the better to see the truth in their hearts and souls, and if they are faking it...we will know.
Rating: 
Summary: A tale of Life that brings the viewer joy/sadness
Review: The full range of emotions is discovered in this wonderful movie. Before the viewer is aware they become a part of the lives of a variety of people who are eventually connected only through the class of Italian. The subtitles work magic by giving the viewer a foreign language lesson also.
Rating:
Summary: If you love romantic stories...
Review: then this movie is not to be missed. Real people, ordinary people, are much more interesting than the so-called beautiful people. And how they interact in the ordinary moments in life and how they fall in love can be wonderful to watch. Contrary to what I read from another review a moment ago, I think this movie is extraordinarily uplifting! If you're a sentimental old fool like I am, you'll probably get a tear as the movie ends with the song "Don't you know?" playing in the background, as did I. What a lovely movie!!!! I just rented the VHS version but the DVD edition is going on my Christmas list--I want to OWN this film!
Rating: 
Summary: Intended for a very specific audience.
Review: This film feels like a home movie. That some reviewers find that atractive is beyond me... The combination of a very unsteady hand-held camera and extremely close shots made me dizzy. (There's nothing wrong with hand-held cameras if they are used properly.) It appears like the director is trying hard to look amateurish. And what about those indoor scenes, in a dark room, where they film against a bright window? If this were my home-made movie, I'd be ashamed to show it to family!
As pointed out by others, the cover art is awfully misleading. There is little comedy, and the romance takes time to develop. It's essentially a dark, heavy drama about reasonably realistic characters that are unhappy about their life in a Danish town.
If you were looking for something more in accordance with the cover art, watch Bread and Tulips, a truly exceptional Italian movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Really Worthwhile Dogma Film!
Review: This film is really darling. Most of the audience loves it! It has a really nice theme to it. How lonely people all end up becoming either friends or lovers or both. The main character is a priest who draws all the other characters together, by his own need to reach out and connect to other humans. Some scenes are very funny, for example, the new priest is replacing the old priest who no one likes. He tends to have a really aggressive temperment that is really funny to watch! Some scenes are very sad. Grief actually is used as a springboard for change and new relationships. There are some scenes of parents dying and some touches of euthnasia. For those out there who might not like this topic. The theme rolls around the title like spaghetti rolls around your fork. Italians use there mealtimes to bond and converse. The mealtime is an intimate gathering and this film symbolizes intimacy between others. This is the real meaning of life as seen when the priest says he is going to sell his mazarati because he has no need of it now, because he now has friends. He comes to the town very lonely and suffering from the death of his wife, everything changes as he gets to know others. The acting and the characterizations are excellent! The dialog is surprising well-done and most of the holes are filled in so the film is very real. Subtitles in German and Italian.Lisa Nary
Rating:
Summary: Not your usual lighthearted romance
Review: This heartwarming comedy focuses around some lonely thirtysomethings who meet in night school to take Italian lessons. There's a furious restauraneur, a dippy hairdresser with a dying mother, a clumsy bakery worker who can't keep a job, a trouble-free Italian waitress, and many others. Shot as a video rather than as a cogent hang-together movie, there's a bit of a slap-dash quality about this one that is part of why it's a little hard to become engaged at the beginning - but it turns out to be its biggest appeal by the end.
It's worthwhile spending an evening with these folks as they try to learn the language of love.
Rating:
Summary: Ordinary People, Ordinary Lives
Review: This is a sweet, touching, comedic film...not what I would consider a comedy, but it does have many funny moments. ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS is the name of the foreign language class which is the thread that holds together the six somewhat lonely and wounded characters in this movie. Each one is trying to deal, with some modicum of dignity, with his or her life and the disappointments and troubles they encounter. The movie deals with the characters' everyday conflicts and challenges - with little distraction for the audience (no sound track, minimal scenery, etc)except for the jerking of the hand-held camera. Gradually, unknown and unsuspected connections between the characters are cleverly revealed, as are the many layers of this story. I thought that the character development was very well done. Seeing how these people connect is heartwarming and leaves the viewer feeling as hopeful as the characters do.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as I thought it would be
Review: This is an independently made film from Denmark, and runs about 97 minutes. About 83 minutes into the movie, the first real Italian is spoken. The rest of the film is in Danish. One of the reasons I rented the film was because I thought there was more Italian involved in it. The movie is also quite sad -- quite frankly this is not an uplifting movie. It's more like an emotional roller coaster that has a few wonderful moments but the rest of the time it's serious and troubling in nature. I'm glad I saw it, but it's not the kind of a movie I would see again.
Rating: 
Summary: Filmmaking for Beginners
Review: This is my first Dogme 95 film, so I guess that tells you that I don't get around much anymore (or at least get out to the movies as much as I'd like). Apparently, the movement--with its emphasis on natural lighting, hand held cameras and an avoidance of other cinematic conventions that make for slick cinema--has any number of detractors (and only a few ardent supporters). After viewing this film, I can see why. ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS has a lot going for it. The cast is attractive and talented. The script is solid--the dialog natural, the plot a bit rambling and contrived in spots but certainly plausible. The film addresses weighty themes (love and death, the weightiest of all) without becoming Nordically depressive. It has a lightness of touch that is, from all that I've read about Dogme, pretty unusual for the genre. Called me spoiled, but I miss good cinematography. Proponents of this apparent Dogme-tic rough, unpolished look will probably justify the movie's primitive quality as "honest" or "authentic." I just think it looks like TV, low budget TV at that. I notice one reviewer here referred to the film as a soap opera, and while he may have been talking plotline (and maybe it is a little on the soapy side, though not egregiously), he might just as well have been talking visuals. Or you might compare it to an old Andy Warhol flick, one of those "artlessness as art" Paul Morrissey vehicles. But those were supposed to be campy and trashy and offbeat. Here the low tech look effectively undercuts the film's warmth and vibrancy. The actors and the script deserve a bit better.
Rating:
Summary: The reviewers below miss the point of Dogme 95
Review: This isn't so much a review as a response to the negative reviews below which successfully demonstrate that the authors have no idea: 1) That this movie was bound by the rules of Dogme 95, the Danish "anti-slickness" movement with which it is associated; 2) What the rules of Dogme 95 are; and 3) That without this knowledge they have no grounds to criticize the movie. First of all, all Dogme 95 films are to use cards for their credits. All Dogme 95 films are shot with only hand-held cameras. All Dogme 95 films are shot on the lowest budgets available. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie (which does indeed happen to be shot on video). The performances and script are natural and understated. The plot may not be big on cinematic brushstrokes and life-changing events (another feature of Dogme 95: no "artificial" events are to be introduced, as the characters are expected to follow the patterns of their daily lives), but it is big on believability. And the direction is also suitably subtle. If you enjoy a movie that is fundamentally human and, in its small way, life-affirming, try this out. Just know in advance that it is not filmed like an overblown Spielberg film.
|
