Cast: Licia Maglietta, Bruno Ganz, Marina Massironi, Giuseppe Battiston, Felice Andreasi, Antonio Catania
Director: Silvio Soldini
Producer: Daniele Maggioni
Screenplay: Silvio Soldini, Doriana Leondeff
Cinematography: Luca Bigazzi
Music: Giovanni Venosta
U.S. Distributor: First Look Pictures
In Italian with subtitles
Bread and Tulips is a light, uncomplicated venture into standard romantic comedy territory. That should not necessarily be seen as a bad thing. This frothy, charming parfait of a motion picture will endear itself to many of those who seek it out. It has just about everything necessary to make it a crowd-pleaser - except that it's in Italian. The language barrier, with the attendant need to read subtitles, will severely limit Bread and Tulips' audience. In the United States, the movie's limited art-house theatrical distribution will guarantee that many who might enjoy this delightful motion picture won't have an opportunity to see it until it shows up on video.
Those who try to make Bread and Tulips into more than it is are probably missing the point. Just because the movie wasn't made in Hollywood doesn't mean it must represent a bastion of subtextual themes and symbols. Bread and Tulips is your standard romantic comedy: nicely written under the constraints of a formula, strongly acted, and completely unpretentious. The film doesn't spend a lot of time pondering existential questions, nor does it expect us to re-examine our lives after seeing it. There are plenty of foreign films that do those sorts of things, and the movie-going experience is all the richer for them, but Bread and Tulips should not be counted among their number, and that shouldn't be held against it. When I go to a movie, I like to be educated, challenged, and/or entertained. This film fulfills the third qualification.
As the story begins to unfold, Rosalba (Licia Maglietta) is on vacation with her indifferent husband and two sons. When she spends too much time in a bathroom at a rest stop, the tour bus leaves without her and she is stranded. She initially decides to hitchhike home, but, along the way, changes her mind and elects to visit Venice, where she has never before been. Once there, she is so enamored with the setting and her newfound freedom, that she gets a job at a flower store and rents a room from a local restaurateur, Fernando (Bruno Ganz). She becomes close friends with a neighbor, a flighty masseuse named Grazia (Marina Massironi), who has a history of bad relationships with men. For her part, Rosalba is gradually drawn to the quiet Fernando, and he to her. Meanwhile, Rosalba's husband, unable to cope with cleaning duties around the house, hires an inept private investigator, Costantino (Giuseppe Battiston), to seek out his absent wife.
Strong acting is Bread and Tulips' greatest asset. It enables us to identify with the characters and, as a result, to root for their well-being and a happy ending. The lion's share of the screen time belongs to the luminous Licia Maglietta, who reminds us that it's possible for a forty-something woman to effectively function at the epicenter of a romantic comedy (something that rarely, if ever, occurs in a Hollywood version of the product). Maglietta's performance is flawless, and, since the story isn't solely focused upon Rosalba's romantic entanglement with Fernando, but is also about how she changes when liberated from the constraints of an unhappy marriage, she presents us with a memorable transformation. Bruno Ganz, perhaps best known for his part in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, nicely underplays Fernando. The chemistry between Maglietta and Ganz is low-key, but palpable. Marina Massironi and Giuseppe Battiston provide supporting performances in roles that are designed largely for their comic potential.
Director Silvio Soldini has a clear understanding of what audiences want from a motion picture like this, and he delivers it without hesitation - a strong female protagonist, a mature love story that isn't bogged down by saccharine or melodrama, and some effectively realized moments of comedy. Bread and Tulips doesn't offer much in the way of substance, but that doesn't prevent it from having a high enjoyability quotient.
© 2001 James Berardinelli