A bored, retired man with an ancient, demanding mother dreams of romantic encounters with young, voluptuous ladies with imminent back problems.
With a simple little story based in Rome about one man’s outlook on life, it is abundantly charming in many respects whilst a little sexist in others but, all-in-all, it is entertaining and considerably amusing. The comedy arises from Gianni, the main character, suitably played by writer and director Gianni Di Gregorio, ambling in to embarrassing situations with PYTs and frequently being taken advantage of by everyone around him, particularly by his leather-faced mother, who would be a perfect fit for Zelda if there ever was a live-action remake of Terrahawks. It is the strength of the characters, who are rich, multi-layered, interesting and so varied that form the cornerstone of the success of the film, in fact.
I must confess to an ignorance of Di Gregorio’s previous film, Mid-August Lunch, which features the same main characters and looks to be of a similar tone but The Salt of Life is more than enough encouragement to make me want to search it out.
18th Aug 2011 | Official site | On IMDb
