Tilda Swinton in "Io Sono l'Amore" BR720 [2009 Italy]

Luca Guadagnino's BAFTA-nominated film, "Io Sono l'Amore" [Eng. Title: I am Love] is about a rich Milanese industrial family falling apart as winds of change sweep through their hitherto stable if stagnant empire. There's a seed of a storyline for en epic, but alas it doesn't get anywhere. Sometimes it makes me wonder whether Italian cinema is going through a crisis at the moment. A crisis of identity, and direction. Perhaps they're wary of treading on the footsteps of a Visconti or Antonioni. Perhaps too much attention is given to making things look shiny, without bothering to add substance, or perhaps they're simply running out of ideas! Finding Italian films with heart is akin to digging deep into the earth for gems these days.

The film is beautiful to look at alright, and the impressive-as-ever Tilda Swinton gives her all as the central character, the next-in-line matriarch around whom the story unfolds, but the director and screenwriter have left her too much to do, with very little support from the script. The music direction also leaves much to be desired as the score often ascends to a ridiculous crescendo even when the scene doesn't necessarily build up towards any defining moment. Despite Ms. Swinton's impeccable performance, I just couldn't care less for her character, nor the others.

Emma, the wife of a wealthy Industrial magnate isn't exactly unhappy, but the film automatically assumes that the audience are convinced of her need for an affair with her son's best friend. No justification is given for her motives, nor for her daughter's decision to leave her husband to live with a woman. And are we supposed to cry for Emma if she gets kicked out for disclosing her affair, to her hubby's face, and of all occasions, immediately after their son's funeral..? WTF..?

Any way, the compilation below features a couple of scenes of Emma with her lover boy, a chef and close friend of her son. While the first half is ok, the second half looks a bit silly, with intercut shots of 'birds and bees' as they roll in the meadow - as if we don't get the picture. The scenes were cut from Blu-ray.





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