Reviews

This is an amazing movie about amazing people and an amazing project. It moved me to tears, especially because I had relatives die in the Holocaust. The people of Whitwell, Tennessee, deserve world-wide recognition as humanitarians and for their outstanding efforts. This film restores faith in human kind and the goodness in people. The story starts out simple enough, but soon it escalates and we witness an enormous undertaking that is highlighted by dedicating a memorial to the 11 million people that died in the Holocaust. It was thoughtful to give recognition to the 5 million other victims that also perished. Bravo to the film makers, bravo to the people of Whitwell!

I saw this movie at the Italian Film Festival in San Francisco on 11/14/04. It has not been released to theaters and I don't know when it will. Lina Wertmüller, the director, and the major male star of the film, F. Murray Abraham (of "Amadeus" fame) were present for Q&A after the movie. The film itself deals with a somewhat dysfunctional family, Sophia Loren in the role of the mother, Abraham plays the father, and their three grown children.

Everyone has problems. There's a lot of shouting and passionate arguing (must be an Italian thing) going on. The plot is simple and there's a happy end. It takes place at the beautiful Amalfi coast and is a joy to watch. Oddly enough, though, it was shot in English and dubbed into Italian. One would think it should be the other way around. If it ever gets released in the US, we will mostly likely see the original English version. Final note: Sophia Loren is AWESOME!