Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Sept 12, 2014 18:35:15 GMT -6
variety.com/2014/reviews/venice-film-review-the-dinner-1201300926/
Ivano de Matteo’s nuanced drama reps an improvement on Herman Koch's bestselling novel.
Jay Weissberg
Forget last year’s Dutch “Dinner” and chow down on Ivano de Matteo’s “The Dinner,” a significant improvement on the previous adaptation and a more nuanced critique of modern society than Herman Koch’s eponymous bestseller. De Matteo (“Balancing Act”) and co-scripter Valentina Ferlan snip away much of the novel’s shambolic final quarter, making the story about two couples learning their teenage kids have cold-bloodedly murdered a homeless woman a sharper, more credible statement about today’s culture of violence. Venice’s Europa Cinemas award will help continental bookings, but a-la-carte U.S. play could also benefit.
Koch’s novel has certainly touched a nerve: In addition to this film and the 2013 Dutch pic, it was announced last year that Cate Blanchett would make her screen directorial debut with a new adaptation. The book’s deceptive simplicity — told via first-person narration and set during a dinner at a chichi restaurant, with an increasing number of flashbacks — might seem like a scripter’s dream, yet the last section ruins the story’s subtlety with a major misstep, pushing the hereditary rather than cultural source of violence. De Matteo’s version is ultimately more chilling because his protagonists are more consistent characters, very much Italian (specifically, Roman), yet with ramifications that know no borders.
The terrific opener is completely new: A man (Antonio Grosso) chatting on his cell phone cuts off another driver (Adamo Dionisi), who goes berserk, even when his young son Stefano (Lupo de Matteo) begs him to calm down. The offending driver lightheartedly apologizes but the other guy keeps hurling abuse. At a traffic light he gets out of the car with a metal rod, at which point the seemingly pleasant fellow, who turns out to be a cop, pulls a gun and shoots him dead.
Stefano, rendered mute by the trauma, is also struck by the bullet, which causes a spinal fracture. He’s treated by pediatrician Paolo Lauri (Luigi Lo Cascio), a warm-hearted, down-to-earth physician with an art-historian wife, Clara (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), and a 16-year-old son, Michele (Jacopo Olmi Antinori). Once a week Paolo and Clara dine with his hotshot lawyer brother, Massimo (Alessandro Gassman), and his second wife, Sofia (Barbora Bobulova), at a pretentious restaurant, though neither party really enjoys the tradition. Paolo questions his older sibling’s ethical decisions, and isn’t happy Massimo is defending the trigger-happy cop in court.
The Lauri brothers lead very different lives, beautifully illustrated via the production design. Massimo and Sofia own a large, ultra-modern apartment of white walls and hard edges which they live in with their infant girl and Massimo’s teenage daughter from his first marriage, Benedetta, nicknamed Benni (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers). By contrast, Paolo and Clara’s place is far warmer, more human: One of the beauties of “The Dinner” is that it guides auds to make assumptions about these characters and then, toward the disturbing finale, upends expectations.
Clara sees a reality-crime-show broadcast of a fuzzy surveillance video showing two indistinct teens kicking a homeless woman to death. Though the figures are blurry, she fears she recognizes Michele and Benni, and confronts her son, who denies it’s him. Horrified at the thought that her offspring could have done such a thing — this is a woman who can’t even put a live lobster into a pot of boiling water — she chooses to believe his story. Meanwhile, Benni seeks advice from her dad by telling him it was two friends; Massimo’s not hoodwinked, and calls Paolo to discuss what to do about their kids.
In the novel the teens were both boys, but the movie’s decision to change one character’s sex adds another layer, challenging notions of gender roles. Earlier, the cousins are seen giggling at an ultra-violent Web series, allowing the script to inculpate a society where violence is considered a source of amusement, rather than the book’s cloddish insistence that aggression is inherited from the narrator/father. Also in contrast with the source material, the dinner of the title is but one of many scenes; the film’s Italian title, mistranslated in the subtitles as “Our Boys” but really “Our Kids,” is far better at zooming in on the subject matter.
A few ounces of fat remain to be trimmed: A gratuitous nude scene with Bobulova should be excised, and there’s no need for a shot of Massimo placing flowers at his first wife’s grave, as the script already does an excellent job revealing the man’s moral core, notwithstanding his job as defender of the indefensible. Likewise, Sofia is far more than the trophy wife of first impressions, despite Clara’s waspish barbs at her sister-in-law, designed to make her feel inferior.
Casting plays to the strengths of all actors with barely a missed beat, although Michele’s character could use a little more meat. Gassman is a standout in the tamped-down role of Massimo, and Lo Cascio and Mezzogiorno play on their mega-likability, making Paolo and Clara’s determined protection of their son especially troubling. The film’s skilled construction and visuals are coolly classical, allowing emotions to creep up rather than wearing them ostentatiously.
Venice Film Review: 'The Dinner'
Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (Venice Days), Sept. 2, 2014. Running time: 93 MIN. (Original title: “I nostri ragazzi”)
Production
(Italy) A 01 Distribuzione release of a Rodeo Drive production, with Rai Cinema. (International sales: Rai Com, Rome.) Produced by Marco Poccioni, Marco Valsania. Executive producer, Francesca di Donna, Cotty Chubb.
Crew
Directed by Ivano de Matteo. Screenplay, Valentina Ferlan, de Matteo, loosely based on the novel “The Dinner” by Herman Koch. Camera (color), Vittorio Omodei Zorini; editor, Consuelo Catucci; music, Francesco Cerasi; production designer, Francesco Frigeri; costume designer, Valentina Taviani; sound, Antongiorgio Sabia, Andrea Malavasi; assistant director, Simone Spada; casting, Pino Pellegrino.
With
Alessandro Gassman, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Luigi Lo Cascio, Barbora Bobulova, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Lidia Vitale, Antonio Salines, Roberto Accornero, Sharon Alessandri, Giada Fradeani, Cristina Puccinelli, Antonio Grosso, Lupo de Matteo, Adamo Dionisi, Melinda de Matteo.
Ivano de Matteo’s nuanced drama reps an improvement on Herman Koch's bestselling novel.
Jay Weissberg
Forget last year’s Dutch “Dinner” and chow down on Ivano de Matteo’s “The Dinner,” a significant improvement on the previous adaptation and a more nuanced critique of modern society than Herman Koch’s eponymous bestseller. De Matteo (“Balancing Act”) and co-scripter Valentina Ferlan snip away much of the novel’s shambolic final quarter, making the story about two couples learning their teenage kids have cold-bloodedly murdered a homeless woman a sharper, more credible statement about today’s culture of violence. Venice’s Europa Cinemas award will help continental bookings, but a-la-carte U.S. play could also benefit.
Koch’s novel has certainly touched a nerve: In addition to this film and the 2013 Dutch pic, it was announced last year that Cate Blanchett would make her screen directorial debut with a new adaptation. The book’s deceptive simplicity — told via first-person narration and set during a dinner at a chichi restaurant, with an increasing number of flashbacks — might seem like a scripter’s dream, yet the last section ruins the story’s subtlety with a major misstep, pushing the hereditary rather than cultural source of violence. De Matteo’s version is ultimately more chilling because his protagonists are more consistent characters, very much Italian (specifically, Roman), yet with ramifications that know no borders.
The terrific opener is completely new: A man (Antonio Grosso) chatting on his cell phone cuts off another driver (Adamo Dionisi), who goes berserk, even when his young son Stefano (Lupo de Matteo) begs him to calm down. The offending driver lightheartedly apologizes but the other guy keeps hurling abuse. At a traffic light he gets out of the car with a metal rod, at which point the seemingly pleasant fellow, who turns out to be a cop, pulls a gun and shoots him dead.
Stefano, rendered mute by the trauma, is also struck by the bullet, which causes a spinal fracture. He’s treated by pediatrician Paolo Lauri (Luigi Lo Cascio), a warm-hearted, down-to-earth physician with an art-historian wife, Clara (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), and a 16-year-old son, Michele (Jacopo Olmi Antinori). Once a week Paolo and Clara dine with his hotshot lawyer brother, Massimo (Alessandro Gassman), and his second wife, Sofia (Barbora Bobulova), at a pretentious restaurant, though neither party really enjoys the tradition. Paolo questions his older sibling’s ethical decisions, and isn’t happy Massimo is defending the trigger-happy cop in court.
The Lauri brothers lead very different lives, beautifully illustrated via the production design. Massimo and Sofia own a large, ultra-modern apartment of white walls and hard edges which they live in with their infant girl and Massimo’s teenage daughter from his first marriage, Benedetta, nicknamed Benni (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers). By contrast, Paolo and Clara’s place is far warmer, more human: One of the beauties of “The Dinner” is that it guides auds to make assumptions about these characters and then, toward the disturbing finale, upends expectations.
Clara sees a reality-crime-show broadcast of a fuzzy surveillance video showing two indistinct teens kicking a homeless woman to death. Though the figures are blurry, she fears she recognizes Michele and Benni, and confronts her son, who denies it’s him. Horrified at the thought that her offspring could have done such a thing — this is a woman who can’t even put a live lobster into a pot of boiling water — she chooses to believe his story. Meanwhile, Benni seeks advice from her dad by telling him it was two friends; Massimo’s not hoodwinked, and calls Paolo to discuss what to do about their kids.
In the novel the teens were both boys, but the movie’s decision to change one character’s sex adds another layer, challenging notions of gender roles. Earlier, the cousins are seen giggling at an ultra-violent Web series, allowing the script to inculpate a society where violence is considered a source of amusement, rather than the book’s cloddish insistence that aggression is inherited from the narrator/father. Also in contrast with the source material, the dinner of the title is but one of many scenes; the film’s Italian title, mistranslated in the subtitles as “Our Boys” but really “Our Kids,” is far better at zooming in on the subject matter.
A few ounces of fat remain to be trimmed: A gratuitous nude scene with Bobulova should be excised, and there’s no need for a shot of Massimo placing flowers at his first wife’s grave, as the script already does an excellent job revealing the man’s moral core, notwithstanding his job as defender of the indefensible. Likewise, Sofia is far more than the trophy wife of first impressions, despite Clara’s waspish barbs at her sister-in-law, designed to make her feel inferior.
Casting plays to the strengths of all actors with barely a missed beat, although Michele’s character could use a little more meat. Gassman is a standout in the tamped-down role of Massimo, and Lo Cascio and Mezzogiorno play on their mega-likability, making Paolo and Clara’s determined protection of their son especially troubling. The film’s skilled construction and visuals are coolly classical, allowing emotions to creep up rather than wearing them ostentatiously.
Venice Film Review: 'The Dinner'
Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (Venice Days), Sept. 2, 2014. Running time: 93 MIN. (Original title: “I nostri ragazzi”)
Production
(Italy) A 01 Distribuzione release of a Rodeo Drive production, with Rai Cinema. (International sales: Rai Com, Rome.) Produced by Marco Poccioni, Marco Valsania. Executive producer, Francesca di Donna, Cotty Chubb.
Crew
Directed by Ivano de Matteo. Screenplay, Valentina Ferlan, de Matteo, loosely based on the novel “The Dinner” by Herman Koch. Camera (color), Vittorio Omodei Zorini; editor, Consuelo Catucci; music, Francesco Cerasi; production designer, Francesco Frigeri; costume designer, Valentina Taviani; sound, Antongiorgio Sabia, Andrea Malavasi; assistant director, Simone Spada; casting, Pino Pellegrino.
With
Alessandro Gassman, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Luigi Lo Cascio, Barbora Bobulova, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Lidia Vitale, Antonio Salines, Roberto Accornero, Sharon Alessandri, Giada Fradeani, Cristina Puccinelli, Antonio Grosso, Lupo de Matteo, Adamo Dionisi, Melinda de Matteo.