...I would think this was a great movie.
The feeling of loneliness in a crowd is probably familiar to most of people at some point of their life, but going through the whole life with it on their shoulders is not an easy task, and many people are unhappy enough to know what I'm talking about.
The last paragraph of Charles Joe Agnes comment is a great description of it. This is not only the basic truth of this movie, but of many people's destinies as well.
That's why the end of the movie is hard to accept. ***SPOILERS*** Almost as if it was added to satisfy the happy-end loving audience (like Charles Dickens' unnatural ending of 'Great Expectations'.) A couple of minutes before the end all the losers are in their usual position: they have nothing now and nothing to hope for in future. Maria (finally) lost her daughter, what she was afraid of all the time. Lisa has to live with her grandparents against her wishes, but it was a logical destiny (once social workers put you under surveillance...). Her grandparents did legally win, but it was a Pyrrhic victory to have the girl who doesn't want to be there, who doesn't like them very much and now will most likely start to hate them for what they did. And, of course Antonio, always polite and ready to help friends, but never giving himself completely till he met Maria, now rejected by her, fired by his friendly boss, he has to collect pieces of his life and probably never ever open himself again.
Wouldn't it been an ending that would fit in real life of real people that movie shows and Charles Joe Agnes writes about?
***NO MORE SPOILERS*** Otherwise this is movie that could be recommended to people who can take their time to watch a slow, beautiful and clever movie, a modern Italian film that has finally left Fellini traditions and follows Tornatore's paths.
The feeling of loneliness in a crowd is probably familiar to most of people at some point of their life, but going through the whole life with it on their shoulders is not an easy task, and many people are unhappy enough to know what I'm talking about.
The last paragraph of Charles Joe Agnes comment is a great description of it. This is not only the basic truth of this movie, but of many people's destinies as well.
That's why the end of the movie is hard to accept. ***SPOILERS*** Almost as if it was added to satisfy the happy-end loving audience (like Charles Dickens' unnatural ending of 'Great Expectations'.) A couple of minutes before the end all the losers are in their usual position: they have nothing now and nothing to hope for in future. Maria (finally) lost her daughter, what she was afraid of all the time. Lisa has to live with her grandparents against her wishes, but it was a logical destiny (once social workers put you under surveillance...). Her grandparents did legally win, but it was a Pyrrhic victory to have the girl who doesn't want to be there, who doesn't like them very much and now will most likely start to hate them for what they did. And, of course Antonio, always polite and ready to help friends, but never giving himself completely till he met Maria, now rejected by her, fired by his friendly boss, he has to collect pieces of his life and probably never ever open himself again.
Wouldn't it been an ending that would fit in real life of real people that movie shows and Charles Joe Agnes writes about?
***NO MORE SPOILERS*** Otherwise this is movie that could be recommended to people who can take their time to watch a slow, beautiful and clever movie, a modern Italian film that has finally left Fellini traditions and follows Tornatore's paths.