Remember Me (2004)

Synopsis: The familigia Ristuccia are desperately trying to come to terms with their frustrated lives. Mother Giulia (Laura Morante) wanted to be an actress before family life submerged her; husband Carlo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) traded the life of a novelist for that of an office-bound employee; 17 year old Valentina (Nicoletta Romanoff) will do anything to get a role in a TV dance show while son Paolo (Silvio Muccino) isn't sure where he's going or how to fit in with his friends. As the individuals grapple to make their mark, be recognised and escape suburban mundanity, their lives begin to crack, none more so than Carlo who meets up with Alessia (Monica Bellucci) an old high school flame.

Remember Me did not impress me as much as Muccino's successful 2001 film The Last Kiss / L'Ultimo Baccio. I wanted to like it but found myself alienated by the characters. Laura Morantes, who was excellent in The Son's Room and The Dancer Upstairs, seems to play Giulia very self-consciously and with too much monotonous bluster. Romanoff is possibly better in her portrayal of the sexually manipulative Valentina and yet she is such an unlikeable character I somehow couldn't really care what became of her. More believable is the bitter-sweet affair between Carlo and Alessia, which is scripted with some empathy. Belluci is as gorgeous as always and brings a poignant dignity to her character. Yet even here I found the resolution to this plot scenario to be unsatisfactory and lacking in credibility.

Other elements conspire to alienate the viewer emotionally. There is an almost facetious voice-over narrating the start and finish of the film, but it seems incongruous and is conveniently forgotten about in its middle and the musical score has a buys-ness that is highly irritating. The characters spend much of the early portion of the film talking in over-loud voices, and there is insufficient light and shade in the way they are portrayed. When a dramatic plot point serves to shake everyone up, it comes as too stark a contrast in style and feel from the earlier part of the film.

Having said all this, Muccino must be given some credit for dealing with the important issue of how to find one's place in the world, especially in the context of conflicting family obligations and expectations, how to mend family rifts and how to cope with the disappointments of life. The disappointment of this film is that for me it didn't do it well enough.

 

 

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