Elizabeth Scalia’s essay on the Eternal City reminded me of a film I’ve been meaning to mention. Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo di Ferragosto) is a desultory Italian film in which the reluctant hero does the thing you probably don’t want to do either. It’s a lovely tribute to virtue and friendship, without even a wisp of Hallmark-y sugar anywhere in it.
Here’s the description from Wikimedia, which doesn’t include the worst of the spoilers:
Gianni (Gianni Di Gregorio), a broken man with mounting condo debts, is forced to entertain his 93-year-old mother and three other feisty women during Italy’s biggest summer holiday, Ferragosto.
I firmly disagree with the idea that Gianni is “broken,” though one concedes there was an awful lot of white wine and cigarettes going on. Also a brief shot of a gorgeous cake.
The humor is subtle, but if you’ve spent much time with 90-somethings it’s deliciously true to life. Definitely don’t watch it with interruptions, because the layers of character and meaning piled on in the macaroni and fish scenes are easily missed. If you want to understand what “show don’t tell” means, this is your film.
***
Family-Friendliness: Your children are probably not going to sit through this one, but if they do, FYI there’s at least one cuss-word in the English subtitles (I have insufficient Italian to comment on the original) and a brief scene in which if you are paying attention you’ll probably infer a minor character is an adulterer. In a different scene, one of the elderly ladies may or may not have been trying to get up an indecent proposal.
–> There’s no nudity or violence or anything, if your children are old enough for the g-rated version of the Ten Commandments, you’re probably good.
At this writing, Mid-August Lunch is streaming free on Amazon Prime, in Italian with English subtitles.
Movie poster courtesy of Wikimedia.
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