© Happy Entertainment
Drei Etagen ( Tre Piani , Three Floors Up ) ** Italy / France 2022 Opened March 17 , 2022
Directed by : Nanni Moretti Writing credits : Nanni Moretti , Federica Pontremoli , Valia Santella Principal actors : Nanni Moretti , Margherita Buy , Riccardo Scamarcio , Alba Rohrwacher , Tommaso Ragno , Adriano Giannini
Italian director Nanni Moretti ( Mia Madre in 2015 , The Son ’ s Room in 2001 ) co-wrote the screenplay with Federica Pontremoli and Valia Santella based on Israeli author Eshkol Nevo ’ s 2015 novel Shalosh Qonmot ( Three Floors Up ). Moretti working from an adaptation is surprising , and perhaps that is where his usual narrative freshness gets lost in the translation .
The action crashes onscreen as drunken driver Andrea ( Alessandro Sperdute ), the aberrant son of judges , careens around a corner , killing a woman , which the pregnant Monica ( Alba Rohrwacher ) sees while leaving a grand apartment building in an affluent Rome ( instead of Tel Aviv ) neighborhood . Nevertheless , Monica takes herself to a hospital , gives birth , and returns home before informing husband Giorgio ( Adriano Giannini ), regularly away because of work . Postnatal depression , lack of companionship , and a recurring illusion has her tottering on sanity ’ s edge . Whereas professionals Lucio ( Riccardo Scamarcio ) and Sara ( Elena Lietti ) pack so much in their days , good-hearted Giovanna ( Anna Bonaiuto ) and Renato ( Paolo Graziosi ) next door frequently mind Francesca ( Chiara Abalsamo at seven , Gea Dall ’ Orto at 17 ). One fateful evening , Lucio , conveniently overlooking Renato ’ s memory impairment , asks his help babysitting Francesca , and then they go missing . Lucio finds them disorganized and traumatized in the nearby woods . Lucio immediately , and sans validation , thinks the worst about Renato , thus provoking a decades-long feud . Nevertheless , he has no qualms about intimately responding to their teenage granddaughter Charlotte ’ s ( Denise Tantucci ) overt flirtations . And finally , the judges , phlegmatic Vittorio ( Moretti ) and lenient Dora
( Margherita Buy ) are beside themselves with their troublemaking son . Except , this time , one decides to stand on the side of decency regarding Andrea ’ s conviction .
The film plows from one unhappy event , occurrence , affair , circumstance , and / or experience to another with a certain feel of manipulated melodrama and sentimentality . Stretching over three time-periods , Drei Etagen lacks insight , depth , and humor . Some scenes defy credibility , e . g ., Charlotte enticing Lucio , others clarity , e . g ., Monica ’ s crow , while others compassion , e . g ., the Renato situation . The cast brings little expression to one-dimensional characters that never develop , change , or talk about anything important . The uplifting , grace-saving film score by Franco Piersanti boosts the overall mood . Drei Etagen may have premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival , yet contrary to its print inspiration , it is a forgettable film . 119 minutes ( Marinell Haegelin )
Meine Schrecklich Verwöhnte Familie ( Pourris gâtés , Spoiled Brats ) ****
© Telepool
France 2021 Opening May 12 , 2022
Directed by : Nicolas Cuche Writing credits : Nicolas Cuche , Laurent Turner Principal actors : Gérard Jugnot , Camille Lou , Artus , Louka Meliava , Tom Leeb , Francois Morel
Billionaire Francis Bartek ( Gérard Jugnot ) lives with his grown children in a luxurious villa in Monaco . He has been a widower for 15 years . His oldest son , Philippe ( Artus ), should take over the company , Bartek Enterprise , but he would rather push a new idea called “ The Shoe that Fits .” Here , a company employee wears new shoes until they are comfortable and then hands them over to the owner . Instead of flying to Avignon for family business , he sneaks off in a private jet to party in Ibiza . He loves his Corvette . The daughter , Stella ( Camille Lou ), spends the day shopping for expensive fashionable clothing .
40 In Hamburg