Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore

To Rome with Love

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now moving onto the films that I have watched during my lone hours in Singapore. After I spent about three weeks fretting over nothing (well, there actually was quite a bit of stuff which kept me busy), I have finally gotten back my movie-watching mojo in week 4. “To Rome with Love” was a pleasant introduction to that – it’s been a long time since I saw a Woody Allen film, this is actually a film I looked forward to a lot (it has Ellen Page in it!) and after I completely forgot about it for years, Pixelmatsch recommended it to me. I had a very good feeling going into this film, and so far I have liked all of his tourism films (namely Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris). At the same time, I knew that this could just as well go very, very wrong as I have never been a huge fan of ensemble films. I really disliked “You will meet a tall dark stranger” and I am so glad that “Midnight in Paris” was nice.

I was in luck, “To Rome with Love” proved itself to be exactly what I expected, and so much more fun on top of it. I only sorry for Alec Baldwin who ended up not really having to do anthing much but making snarky comments at Jesse Eisenberg and Ellen Page. Other than that, their storyline was perhaps my favorite. The characterization of Monica was absolutely fantastic, down to her claim that she is looking for some sort of Weltschmerz and the fact that she couldn’t cook. Oh and the Tic-Tac she ate right before she expected a kiss. Priceless.

Unsurprisingly, I liked the other segments too. My favorite scene of all is perhaps the one where Michelangelo’s father sings Pagliacci in the shower on stage, it was like a summary of the highlights of the opera including its dramatic ending and Pagliaccio’s “La commedia è finita!” at the end. I was surprised at how much I remembered from the opera, and suddenly felt a strong appreciation for the opera’s lovely music. Mr. Leoncavallo, I did you wrong when I thought the music was boring when I saw “Pagliacci” the first time. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t heard opera music for awhile, but the film gave me an intense urge to see one again.
I also liked that Woody Allen is not as sex-crazed anymore. Surely his characters still are (in a sense), but it’s different nowadays, and he settled comfortably in the role of the Dad who is even more neurotic and annoying than he’s ever been before while displaying a lot of self-deprecating black humour. Even his characters gained a little more dignity than Allen’s earlier films, with the husband and wife getting back together and Jack going back to Sally (though not entirely by his own choice).

I was pleasantly surprised to see Riccardo Scamarcio in the film! It’s been 7 years since I saw “Tre metri sopra il cielo” and I will forever remember it as the most clichéd chick flick I’ve ever seen. (Pixelmatsch, he is also the main character in “Mine vaganti”! Did you notice?) I was expecting Roberto Benigni in it (and there he was, hehe) who is an Italian cliché almost like the Spanish steps are, but Scamarcio came as a surprise.

Over the years, my preference of Spain over Italy has clearly changed to the opposite, even though I am probably indulging in clichés as much as Woody Allen is. That’s fine, just let me enjoy my pasta.