Feel good, though fortunate to be based on real events or otherwise in danger of being schmalz at times.
But perhaps that's why I enjoyed it - everyone loves mid-20th century Americana stylings, and the immediate recognition of bigoted, post-segregation US forms a nice backdrop for the odd-couple dynamic. Viggo Mortensen does a surprisingly good turn and even though my friend from Milano says that he is speaking some kind of gibberish, he still plays wise-cracking Tony perfectly.
But that…
I was lost for words immediately after viewing, and I'm not sure whether I have any decent ones to offer a day later.
This is, essentially, a masterpiece, and even if it served as the blueprint for all future sci-fi that followed, nothing I've seen has come even close to it's brilliance.
First, lose all your preconceptions about silent film. This isn't some drole Pathé flick, no Buster Keaton looking aghast as a pile of bricks misses him by inches.…
It's hard to know if the cinematography is really quite as exceptional as it seems, or if it's given a helping hand by being fixed on quite simply the most beautiful city on Earth.
Servillo expertly takes the idea of fading youth up a notch and the bizarre moments (e.g., flamingos) only further the sense that locking yourself into a life-long romance with all those marble bridges, Botox and nuns isn't going to bring you contentment.
I'm going to look at flights to Rome now.
