Movie Review---I Am Love

You can skip this post if you haven't seen the movie or have no desire to read movie reviews, but I felt compelled to write this post after seeing the movie in the title above...which really isn't a review as you will soon see.


I was reading Millie's blog where she mentioned she went to see I Am Love and that she liked it.  It is a foreign art-house film, so you may not have heard about it.  I was on a trip to Baltimore to celebrate the big 40 anniversary and told hubby I wanted to see this film --- all Italian with subtitles, so it is not everyone's cup of cappuccino.  It is a love story that ends in tragedy.  I liked it, but much of symbolism was too obvious or too complex for me, because I left the theater with lots of questions.  The cinematography is a feast for the eyes,  and the acting subtle and sparse of dialog.  But I had so many questions.

1. Why is the 'chef' introduced so briefly at the first and we are not shown a single real clue about the magnetism he has?
2. What were they racing--- cars, horses---it is, after all, the middle of winter in Milan?  Why don't they develop this mutual interest more fully so that we can understand the friendship that grows between the two men.  Why did they portray this friendship almost as a gay love when it wasn't?
3. Why is the chef so shy...just like she said her husband was shy?  Is that what attracts her to him?
4. Why didn't they draw a bigger clue to Russian cooking?  Was she homesick, for Russia, really?
5. Why is everyone else drawn with such subtlety and the daughter is so overly cliche!
6. How many boobies and bees and beetles does it take to make a love scene before it becomes overdone and boring?
7. What was in the note that the son wrote to his mother?  Was he thinking of committing suicide?
8. Why was the housekeeper's devastation scene so long?  What was the meaning of seeing a child like her waking the mother?  Did the mother grow up with her and bring her from Russia?
9. Why was the housekeeper packing when no one leaves with those suitcases?
10. And finally, why was the pregnant daughter-in-law so ignored in all this?  Was that some male chauvinism Italian cultural thing or did it have deeper meaning?

I guess I liked the movie, well-crafted, but it seemed to be filled with symbolism that I could not quite grasp and as you can tell, left me with many questions.  One movie review said that there isn't any motivation for anyone in the film.  I tend to agree.  It is all very subtle.  If you see the movie I will be thrilled to hear your comments.