You know what, man? I'm getting really tired of these movies revolving around upscale, well-off, hopelessly self-centered families who eat well and have affairs. It seems like every month or so, a film comes along that embodies some or all of these traits, whether it involves a Byzantine family in Uruguay (the Merchant Ivory retchfest "The City of Your Final Destination") or some abhorrent yuppies in Manhattan (Nicole Holofcener's utterly whiny "Please Give").
The latest hoity-toity soap opera to hit movie houses is "lo sono l'amore," known around these parts as "I Am Love." All I can say is if you love watching movies about people who probably wouldn't hang with a commoner like yourself, who eat food you'll probably never eat in homes you'll most likely never be able to afford, then by all means check this out, you middle-class masochist!
There's a story lurking behind this wealth and posh living. It deals with a rich family, the Recchis of Milan. Mostly, the story deals with Emma (Tilda Swinton), the Russian-born wife of Tancredi (Pippo Delbono), who just inherited the family business along with his and Emma's darling son Edoardo (Flavio Parenti). However, Edo wants to open a restaurant with his buddy, talented chef Antonio (Edoardo Gabbriellini). Just how talented a chef is Antonio? Well, he makes a prawns-with-ratatouille dish so good that when Emma eats it, she gets all hot and bothered and eventually decides to have an affair with him. (I'm so serious. She digs in and gets sprung on ol' boy immediately.)
Tragic infidelity
From then on, the "Love" narrative begins to resemble a mashup of "Unfaithful" and "Damage," two previous tales of tragic infidelity. There are other things going on in this flick, usually taking place in a jaw-droppingly luxuriant European location. "Love" is a movie that seems to take glee in not focusing on the matter at hand, either narratively or visually, and just putting its perspective on whatever. "Love" definitely delves into what I like to call artful randomness.
And the movie has this problem I just cannot get over: I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THESE PEOPLE!!! For a story that's rife with sordidness, the characters are dull and self-serving. Even Swinton, who has made it her life's work to find the appeal in characters you would normally prefer not to care about (check out her performance in last year's "Julia" to see if I'm lying), plays a generally bland woman whose selfishness ends up leading to traumatic, life-shattering consequences.
While "Love" represents everything I loathe about the upper class (and the filmmakers who can't stop making movies about them), its innate desire to be a sensual movie-going experience makes it difficult to dismiss. It wants to be more like a warm, nostalgic feeling than a movie. I already know critics who've hailed "Love" for being a passionate valentine to the Italian cinema of yesteryear, despite the fact that co-writer/director Luda Guadagnino's aforementioned wandering visual eye feels Altman-esque. Even the opening credits look as if they've been preciously cargoed in from another time, when movies were classy.
Swinton, shape-shifter
The movie seems to be, like so many Tilda Swinton films before it, an obvious showcase for Swinton (who also serves as producer) and her knack for being a shape-shifting thespian. After all, she's playing a woman who can fluently dip into Russian and Italian languages. The movie reaches an odd, meta apex when, after tasting the fruits of forbidden love, Swinton's character turns into - Tilda Swinton. She sheds the swanky gear, the glowing makeup and even her flowing locks and becomes the enigmatic, frighteningly pale, asexual-looking woman we all know her as.
"I Am Love" has to be the only movie I've seen where even the star of the show wants to get away from these people.
