Mine Vaganti
What is worse, “Männer al dente” for “Mine Vaganti” or “Am Sonntag bist du tot” for “Calvary”? It’s a tough competition. However, I have to admit that this title at least made me remember the film. Both Shii and Pixelmatsch have seen it and they were both amused by it. So I totally expected a silly Italian comedy. I never expected Riccardo Scamarcio, who I am still kind of fascinated by, to be a decent actor and appear in a non-comical film. Well, “Mine Vaganti” surely was funny, but more than that it was a kind of serious funny and I would even say that the serious undertones were much more important than the funny ones. It is not without reason that the title refers to the grandmother and not to the sons or the quasi-girlfriend who take up the majority of the screentime. All of these kids are somehow a reflection of her and what she was not able to do – while they were somehow able to overcome the difficulties society (and their own family) put on them, she was stuck with an unhappy fate. It is never really explained what happened to her nor what she really thinks, but through the children we end up empathize with her after all.
I am not saying the film is not funny, but for me its story was extremely heavy. The way it portrayed the lack of tolerance within the family made my stomach churn, ultimately it was a film about the main characters suffering and just generally being quite screwed up but not by their own fault. It’s essentially a “poor rich kids” story, but since it’s so introspective I didn’t think that was a big deal. Lack of money doesn’t have to make you unhappy, so conversely a rich lifestyle doesn’t necessarily make you happy either. Oh and the movie is gay in an absolutely lovable way. I really liked the scene in which Tommaso and Marco make up, it was a sweet moment that these actors pulled off really well.
Direction-wise, I absolutely hated the film. The music was way too overloaded (OK fine it’s an Italian movie, but still! Visconti’s light comedies are not this bad when it comes to that!) and the camera kept moving way too much. Maybe it was supposed to signify something (like distress) but it sure annoyed me. I strongly believe that less or at least calm camera movement tends to make better films. (Nowadays, I even love Ozu after all.) At the same time, I didn’t really expect great direction from this film, I am really glad that it has a good story and that makes me content. It’s just unusual that I find the direction of a film so remarkably bad.
My sympathies for Spain, Italy and Portugal have been evolving. I had a Spanish phase ever since 10th grade till I lost interest in seeing the newer Almodovar films, then I got into opera and all things Italian, and then just this year I went to visit Lisbon which sparked a big love for Portugal. But Italy is not yet fading for me, I definitely still have a thing for it, and “Mine Vaganti” is a fantastic example of how likeable Italian movies can be.