:
Luigi Lo Cascio,
Sandra Ceccarelli,
Silvio Orlando,
more...
:
Giuseppe Piccioni
see all cast/crew...
: Film Movement
: Drama, Foreign, Independent, Romance, Italy, Crime, Gangsters, Film Movement
: 113 min.
: English, Italian
: English
see additional details...
|
|
Giuseppe Piccioni follows up on his 1999 opus Not of this World with this understated drama about fantasy and reality. The film centers on Antonio (Luigi Lo Cascio), a youngish chauffeur who is a model of professional promptness and courtesy. He also possesses a vivid inner world dominated by images of other worlds and other planets. A chance near-accident introduces him to Maria (Sandra Ceccarelli), a struggling single mother trying desperately to keep her frozen foods store afloat and to keep her daughter from being taken away from her by the child's grasping grandparents. Even though Maria is extremely suspicious of Antonio's intentions, the two form a slow tentative relationship. When he learns Maria's dire circumstances, he selflessly tries to intercede at the expense of his own career. Antonio makes quiet deals with the sleazy gangster (Silvio Orlando) to whom Maria owes money, drives the crime boss around on his various errands, and eventually participates in some of his shady dealings. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto and Venice Film Festivals. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
|
| The "Social" Filmmaker
by talltale
January 13, 2007 - 8:42 AM PST
|
|
|
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
|
What is "real life" really like? What does it involve, day to day? And what does it take to get through it? Obviously, the answers depend on whose life is in question, but given that, it's amazing how few films actually address these issues from more than a single, often simple, angle. If you find this subject worth tackling, then I suspect that the films of Giuseppe Piccione are for you. As did his earlier and masterful "Not of This World," LIGHT OF MY EYES explores the intersections of family, work, love, sex and friendship--but this time in a stranger, more elliptical manner.
This movie is so quiet (even in scenes featuring gangster violence), calm and nearly--but not quite--elusive, that it can almost lull you into a dream state. Its narrative thread is a spoken sci-fi story that mirrors obliquely the lives of the characters. Piccione is that rare filmmaker who perceives the social contract as something real and important, helping to hold our modern world together. His film is beautiful, sad but not depressing, and features wonderful performances from Luigi Lo Cascio ("The Best of Youth"), Sandra Ceccarelli and Silvio Orlando ("El Alamein"). Mr. Orlando, on the basis of the movies mentioned here and the newer "The Place of the Soul" is among the great actors (Italian or otherwise) of modern times. |
|
|
GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.75)
4 Votes
add to list 
|
|
|
Your cart
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.