Rating: 
Summary: 90 minutes I can't get back
Review: This may very well be the worst movie I have ever seen. I don't even know where to begin. The film (or shall I say "tape") must have been shot by a 6-year-old.There is absolutely zero character development. There's no music. The acting is eighth-grade-drama-class quality. They can't even get one of the "actors" to cry real tears, opting instead for what was sure to be an eye-dropper. The subtitles look like they were done in the early 80s. I'm normally a huge fan of foreign films, figuring that if they make it to the shelves of our local video stores, they're high quality. This film shot thousands of holes in my theory. This is no "Talk to her." This is no "Y Tu Mama." This is no "Open your eyes." I give the "fim" an F-. But the experience of mocking it while watching it in disbelief, an A.
Rating: 
Summary: Sweet soap opera
Review: This somewhat engrossing danish offering shows that you don't need a big budget to make a decent movie, all you need is some interesting characters and a script. Apparently shot with cheap videotape, most of the shots consist of closeups of people as they talk and interact with each other. (Talk about low budget, the closing credits are even handwritten!) Be all this as it may, the actors do a good job and we get wrapped up in the realistic lives of a clumsy pastry store clerk, some waiters, a temporary fill-in priest, a hairdresser with a sick mother, and some other lonely misfits who all end up in a municipal italian language class. There they find romance and hope, though not without a few complications. Overall this is a sweet film, despite a bit of dark realism (cruel parents, drug addicts, funerals), and we go away with the happy sensation that we have seen a movie made more for love than for money.
Rating:
Summary: Good enough.
Review: This was a very cute movie. It took me a while to get over the PBS / home video feel of the cinematography. Even though the images and sounds were clear, there was a very amateur feel to the movie. The movie is romantic, and funny, but feels more like a quiet pleasant stroll; not overly exciting, but charming and mildly uplifting. The ending was a bit mild for me too. There was some closure, but it still felt a bit quick and simple. All and all, I feel this movie would have been better suited as a 'made for tv' movie. It's definitely a rental.
Rating: 
Summary: Take a lesson with them.
Review: Thomas Vinterberg and Lars Von Trier signed The Vow of Chastity, the defining rules for Dogma 95. Holding some major films as visit cards: The Idiots, Festen, Mifune, and now Italian for Beginners, Dogme 95 is bringing us some of the most interesting movies being made. Italian for beginners is a very good movie, you will feel peace in the end, having experienced envy, anger, deceit, shock, contempt, death, and love. It is another Dogme 95 movie, have no doubt about it. If you have seen other Dogme movies, you know these are not void of emotions, and you know you won't forget these movies easily. Italian for beginners gets stuck on you for the right reasons, and you will want to see it another time. It is the story of a group of people who live in the same town and meet for italian lessons. The story of their relationships unfolds, each character bringing forward and learning to live with its own misery, and in the end they all take a trip to Venice, where they reunite with life. Either for Venice, or Dogme, Italian for beginners has its moments of sheer magic. Take a lesson with them.
Rating:
Summary: Know what you are getting yourself into
Review: We had no idea what we were in for when we rented this movie. I enjoy foreign films, so I probably would still have rented it knowing it was a Danish movie and based on the description, but I was unaware that I would be a guinea pig for an experimental film style. The description makes it sound like your normal, everyday feel-good romantic comedy with a few quirks, twists, and turns that will amuse and entertain...instead this felt like a poorly done student filmshot on a home video camera, with uninteresting characters, no plotline, no humor, and generally no redeeming qualities whatsoever, except the one Grand Canal vista about 5 minutes before the movie ends. I wish I could have those 2 hours of my life back. My husband and I wholeheartedly regard this as the worst movie we have ever seen. Ever. Ever, ever...
Rating:
Summary: How to trick someone into renting the worst movie on earth..
Review: When my wife and I rented this movie, we did so because it came highly recommended from movie critics and because the movie case had the look of a quirky romantic comedy, similar to say, "Woman on Top". Even the description on the back of the movie conveniently leaves out the fact that it is an experimental Danish movie. We, however, moved past our anger at the marketing ploy and watched the movie anyway. Long story short, the script was boring and somewhat nonsensical, the actors were completely unbelievable, and the characters were unlikeable. It's just another case of a bad art film getting a good review because nobody wants to admit they don't like it for fear of looking uncultured or dumb.
Rating: 
Summary: Where do I sign up?
Review: Where have these wonderful actors been hiding? Cute story of people picking themselves up by their bootstraps, getting on with life and discovering good friends in their Italian class. Makes you want to find a class today!
Rating:
Summary: How very odd...
Review: Your first impression of this movie will be "OMG, they filmed this with a home movie camera!", which I believe they did. You get over it fast enough though because the script and characters really are able to draw you in. Perhaps this 'home-movie' feel was done on purpose (or mabey all Dutch films ar so low-budget) because it makes the entire movie seem so much more viceral and real; you'll feel almost voyeuristic watching it. The story centers around seven (ending up with nine) people who take an Italian class together, and all the drama and humor that follow them. I found this film uproriously funny, not so much at the script, but at the film making (the way they show the final credits is priceless). The script is, however, quite well done. The humor is very believeable, but not the kind that makes you cringe like so many American films do ("rushmore" is a perfect example of cringe-humor). It only got four stars from me because it lacked much new insight into relationships. The characters all found eachother it the same traditional way that most characters in romances do. However, it does well to avoid the annoying and somewhat unrealistic dramas that Julia Roberts seems plagued with. Their pain seem much more plausable, and for that I'm thankful.
Rating:
Summary: How very odd...
Review: Your first impression of this movie will be "OMG, they filmed this with a home movie camera!", which I believe they did. You get over it fast enough though because the script and characters really are able to draw you in. Perhaps this 'home-movie' feel was done on purpose (or mabey all Dutch films ar so low-budget) because it makes the entire movie seem so much more viceral and real; you'll feel almost voyeuristic watching it. The story centers around seven (ending up with nine) people who take an Italian class together, and all the drama and humor that follow them. I found this film uproriously funny, not so much at the script, but at the film making (the way they show the final credits is priceless). The script is, however, quite well done. The humor is very believeable, but not the kind that makes you cringe like so many American films do ("rushmore" is a perfect example of cringe-humor). It only got four stars from me because it lacked much new insight into relationships. The characters all found eachother it the same traditional way that most characters in romances do. However, it does well to avoid the annoying and somewhat unrealistic dramas that Julia Roberts seems plagued with. Their pain seem much more plausable, and for that I'm thankful.
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