"Gettin' old ain't for sissies," Bette Davis once famously remarked, but it might not be quite as tough to contemplate if one knew that a caretaker like the patient, resourceful Gianni was going to be around to fetch, carry and cook up delicious meals. Gianni is the quiet eye of the quiet storm in Mid-August Lunch, a nicely observed, slice-of-life comedy from Italy opening this Friday at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport.
Gianni's winningly played with remarkable finesse by his namesake, Gianni De Gregorio, who co-wrote the film and makes his directorial debut with the movie. De Gregorio's writing and directorial style matches his performance—it's all in the details in this loving, gentle movie, where not much seems to happen during Pranzo di Ferragosto, the long Roman summer holiday weekend.
The middle-aged Gianni is a confirmed bachelor who lives with his 93-year-old mother in their cramped apartment in Rome. ( It's never clear whether the son is gay or straight. ) Money is tight and—to save on back fees owed to the condo association—Gianni agrees to look after Marina, the mother of the building manager during the weekend. Nonplussed, the building manager arrives with mother and Aunt Maria in tow, leaving both on Gianni's doorstep. Next a doctor friend gets Gianni to agree to watch his mother, Grazia, for the holiday, too—complete with her dietary restrictions and list of medications.
Naturally, complications galore ensue—a fight over the TV, Grazia cheating on her diet, Marina locking herself in her room, Gianni's mother refusing to eat in the kitchen, etc. But the to-dos seem to arise naturally. ( One could argue that the movie's hyper-realistic approach makes it a good example of the mumblecore genre—senior citizen-style. ) Throughout, the harried Gianni pleads with his mother ( who is never seen without her blond wig ) , "Let's not get snippy" in between drinking copious amounts of wine and sneaking out for cigarettes. Eventually, one of the ladies takes off into the night with the panic-stricken Gianni hot on her heels.
But by lunchtime the next day, all is right with the world and the sun-drenched dining room—complete with the delectable meal cooked up by Gianni—is the occasion for nostalgic toasts, shared memories, gossip and gentle laughter. Happy to have survived the weekend and pleased with each other's company, the characters dance with each other over the end credits. Another reason to celebrate: There hasn't been a cloying, forced or maudlin moment in Di Gigorio's movie, which turns out to be nothing more—and nothing less—than a delightful homage to the simple pleasures that life can offer no matter the age. This—from the writer of the ultra-violent Italian mob drama Gomorrah—is perhaps the biggest and most endearing surprise of Mid-August Lunch. Subtitled. www.musicboxtheatre.com
Film note:
—On April 3, Biblioteca Popular, 1921 S. Blue Island, will screen and host a discussion of Cruel and Unusual, a 2006 documentary focusing on five transgender women living in prison. The screening of the 64-minute movie begins at 2 p.m. There is a suggested donation of $5 or stamps to benefit the Write to Win Collective, a Chicago-based pen-pal project to send letters to trans prisoners; however, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. See www.bibliotecapopularpilsen.wordpress.com .
DVD releases of note:
A slew of films of interest to the LGBT community have been released recently on Blu-ray and DVD, including a batch of Oscar nominees and winners like The Blind Side, with its audience-pleasing Oscar-winning performance by Sandra Bullock. There's also Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire from out director Lee Daniels, with its searing turns from Oscar winner Mo'Nique and nominee Gabourey Sidibe.
Action fans will be happy with Guy Ritchie's adaptation of Sherlock Holmes with the bonus of a homoerotic undertone between Robert Downey, Jr., and Jude Law that is lightly seasoned throughout the movie. Out director Pedro Almodovar's latest, the melodramatic Spanish romantic thriller Broken Embraces—starring his muse and LGBT audience fave Penelope Cruz—will be a must-have for foreign-film enthusiasts while TV junkies will have to make do with the retro Mad Men: Season 3 ( which includes the untimely exit of Sal, the closeted art director played by out actor Bryan Batt ) until new episodes arrive later this summer.
Squealing teenage girls ( and gay boys ) can rejoice that it's finally here: the highly anticipated release of the two-disc The Twilight Saga: New Moon, part two in the teenage vampire saga with pinup boy Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart ( currently in theaters doing a great job impersonating lesbian rocker Joan Jett in The Runaways ) and plenty of shirtless beefcake ( of the jailbait variety ) provided by hunky Taylor Lautner and his fellow werewolves.
Finally, the prayers of classic fans have been answered with the Blu-ray/DVD release of director John Huston's 1951 classic The African Queen. Humphrey Bogart won his only Oscar as the gin-soaked boat captain Charlie Allnut bantering with his unexpected companion, the uptight Rose Sayer ( lesbian icon Katharine Hepburn in the first of her spinster roles ) as the two travel down river in the Congo at the outbreak of World War I. Paramount—which offers the film in increasingly lavish editions ( the ultimate one includes Hepburn's memoir of the making of the film ) —has beautifully restored the film. But even the stripped-down version has the fascinating, new documentary Embracing Chaos: Making the African Queen. Let's hope this encourages Paramount to dig into its vast vault and bring us many more of its still-unreleased classics.
Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site.
