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WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

Renato (Stuart) is a single father, struggling to get on with his career as a film cameraman, while bringing up his eleven year old son Tommi (Morace) and his teenaged sister Viola (Nobili) in their pokey city-centre flat.
In his attempt to keep his children on track, he develops a rather short temper.
Without a strong and supportive father-figure to rely on, Tommi retreats into himself as he’s picked on at school. Renato’s main interest in his son is how well he does in his swimming. Tommi would much rather be playing football.
When a rich family moves into the same building, Tommi gets friendly with the son and ends up being taken under their wing, putting more strain on his relationship with his father, who can’t find the time or money to give Tommi what he needs, but who doesn’t want to let anyone else take his place.
To add to the complications, Renato’s estranged wife turns up out of the blue. The children are desperate to have their mother back in their lives, but Renato is worried that she’ll just run away again, making the pain all the greater next time around.

WHAT’S IT LIKE?

This is Kim Rossi Stuart’s first foray into directing and he acquits himself well as he makes the transfer from acting. Whether playing one of the key characters himself makes this easier or harder, I’m not entirely sure.
His style is clearly influenced by his fellow European independent directors, drawing on film-makers like Truffaut with his emphasis on cheeky children being forced to grow up ahead of their time, while struggling with unhelpful parents and unsympathetic schoolmates. The many rooftop shots and frequent journeys up and down the ornately-banistered staircases that wrap around the lifts also conjure up memories from the Paris of the New Wave films of the 60s.
All that being the case, the film doesn’t really offer us anything we haven’t seen before – single parent families, children being bullied at school and at home, estranged parents – so while we get a perfectly moving story, told with warmth, understanding and skill, it’s not particularly original or surprising, so it doesn’t leave us feeling emotionally enriched.

opens 24th January 2008