The one thing this film was, was a brilliant portrayal of the obnoxious moneyed English at play in Tuscany, the arrogance and superciliousness of the younger characters and the emotionally uptight 'olds'. I'm not sure if this was the intention of all concerned as the programme notes at the cinema summarised the film as 'an illuminating and touching study of personal crises over ageing and our need to belong'. The Oakley character was particularly repulsive, superb acting there. As for Anna, her desperation oozed out of every hangdog look she delivered, perpetually on the verge of tears which she duly wept with absolutely no sympathy from myself. I'm guessing the dialogue was improvised, if not then the irritating 'banter' and outpourings reveal a script of true mastery, very naturally mundane with the 'youngs' speaking American TV influenced posh and the 'olds' confined to world weary tones. Overall, I couldn't have cared less if Anna had been gang raped or if they'd all been killed in the car crash, the world would be better off without people like these. By the time of Anna's revelation to V at the hotel I was so sick of her face that it was the one moment I laughed. It was bad judgement on my part going to see Unrelated and half way through I was close to walking out but like any disaster, it was difficult to avert my eyes, a woeful experience. I hope all concerned go on to better things.
