Primo amore (2004) Reviews

• The Dark Corners of Love and Obsession

  gradyharp2006-05-02

  Writer/director Matteo Garrone has created in PRIMO AMORE yet another atmospheric film (not unlike 'L'Imbalsamatore') that deftly explores the dark side of human interactions and motivations. His style is Gothic in nature but with a contemporary setting manipulated with quirky camera work and artistically designed sets that give the viewer the feeling of watching an experiment in a laboratory, the characters all being bounded by cage-like visual devices. Yes, this is film noir, but Garrone develops his bizarre characters so well that we grow along with their transformations into the icons they become. Vittorio (Vitaliano Trevisan) is a goldsmith who exists on the modest, long-held family business of creating jewelry from molten gold in the ancient manner. We first meet him looking through the grid of a train station where he awaits Sonia (Michela Cescon), a young girl who has answered his classified ad for a date. They meet, Sonia is pleased, but Vittorio tells her right away that he expected her to be thinner. Sonia offers to return to her home out of town, a garden home she shares with her robust brother (Roberto Comacchio), but Vittorio decides he wants to try the date. They have a little courtship and all seems to go well until Vittorio begins to suggest that Sonia lose weight. They move into a nice home ('the site of Romeo and Juliet' the realtor boasts) and their coexistence begins. Vittorio is confronted with the needs of his business expanding stimulated by an offer to partner his business from an entrepreneur who insists Vittorio make only heavy bracelets and substantial jewelry in response to what the public is buying: Vittorio has always preferred the tiny, thin, light weight delicate carvings of beauty rather than the bulkier profitable items. The decision causes Vittorio's two old workers to leave him and Vittorio is depressed. As Sonia complies with Vittorio's ongoing obsession for her to be thin, Sonia's friends and brother tell her to beware of the strange demands of Vittorio, and despite Sonia's hunger for food, her hunger for being loved is greater and she slowly moves toward anorexia. Eventually in the solitary confinement of their home the two come into conflict and the result is a tragedy few would see coming. The layers of meaning are deep: Vittorio's passion for the thin, delicate gold objects he creates as being things of true beauty are mirrored by his obsession for Sonia to be like those objects. Sonia works as a model for an art school and as she watches the students' works alter her once nubile body to a dwindling form, she feels terrified that she will waste away. Yet her need to not be rejected by Vittorio keeps her starving her body rather than her heart. Throughout this downward spiral of physical vs emotional attraction Garrone frames the scenes in increasingly complex grids, confining the story every more tightly until the ultimate rupture. The acting is excellent and the combination of scene design and cinematography make this a dark but intensely interesting film experiment. It may not be a movie for everyone, but for those who appreciate avante garde stories and cinematic treatment, this is a film to study. Grady Harp

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• The dark side of the love. Desire of possession, weakness and psychological games between lovers in a 2004 Verona pretty far from the one of Romeo and Juliet.

  camurrist2004-03-09

  The dark side of the love. Desire of possession, weakness and psychological games between two lovers in a 2004 Verona pretty far from the Romeo and Juliet one's. Garrone strikes, in spite of the bitter critics he received during the 54.Filmfestival in Berlin, where the film was presented. A majestic photography and a deep care of particulars make the film a small esthetical masterpiece, which make oneself forget, the strong north-east Italian accent of the two main characters. There is a lot of work behind the two main actors, but sometimes you have the feeling they are a little too shallow in comparison to the deep thoughts they do. The theme of anorexia is a sort of taboo in our society, but Garrone deals with it with a lot of maturity and sometimes irony, which bring the audience even deeper in the darkness of the story, until the wonderful monologue which close the curtains. Provocative, but real, Garrone is a tough director. Vote: 7

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• A beautiful, disturbing experience

  shashkin2006-08-04

  I have not seen this director's work before, but will now watch out for it. This film is best watched in reflective silence, to allow the characters to sink in. It asks many questions: how far are we willing to go for love? How can we transform ourselves into ideals without losing our self.. How can we reconcile the cruels hooks of the body with the splendors of the mind? Goldsmith Vittorio obsesses with form, over the essence of things, and finds in his willing, sensual girlfriend Sonia the clay to shape into his idealized form. She sacrifices her cupcakes and cookies to the altar of love, but the desire to find perfection can become the first brush of an abusive spiral.. This is is not a date movie. A movie that leaves the taste of ashes, and yet one that you'll remember.

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• When in the movies is possible to introduce another kind of love

  dadie2004-11-09

  This movie is not a surprise for people saw "L'imbalsamatore" from the same director, because piece of geniality were present also there. This movie is wonderful, watching it you are satisfy for the choice. The story is incredible, because, as the title say, it speak about love, about two person that meat each other and fall in love, but it is not so simple. The strange love between them is out of mind, and what is incredible to me is the easy way that the watcher understand this love In fact, in my opinion, it should be very hard to take all the parts and reason of this strange love, and Garrone is able to let understand both position. Even if the men position is mentally sick you can realize his position and I think it is because of Garrone. Landscapes and locations are very good, and the perfection of light and color are not new because of the previous movie. Good choice also for the two actors, the man is totally inside the character, the girl really lost weight during shots, that's crazy but ideal for the movie. The music gives the correct atmosphere that's why won same awards. I wonder why these products remain in Italy and is not exported usually it go just to France and Germany but no more.....why? I am proud of this kind of Italian cinema and I would like to know what the foreigners think.

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• darkly brilliant

  indy-392007-03-08

  Stumbled on this film on Sundance channel prior to leaving for work...saw one scene and decided to watch for it so I could see it from the beginning. I wasn't disappointed- this is brilliant film-making- a story of a control obsessed man- who attempts to makeover his new girlfriend physically into his idea of perfection. All the while he is totally losing control of his "other" life: he is late for appointments, unable to deal with buyers, uncompromising in his dealings with partners. The girlfriend is swept up in his obsession for her- his single mindedness about her- to the point where, emaciated, she claims to "like herself better"- although her brother describes her as a "wilted flower". Not exactly the normal effect love has, but this is not really that kind of love story. This is "First Love", and Vittorio's first love or primary love is hardly this or any other girlfriend. Vittorio creates delicate little pieces of jewelry that his partners moan are "too much detail, not enough weight." Happily the same can not be said of this film which has plenty of both. See it if you're serious.

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