Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 8, 1992 TAG: 9202080321
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NEW ITALIAN FILM IS A VISUAL FEAST
Into the ranks of movies that celebrate food comes the Italian movie "The Story of Boys and Girls." In fact, the press kit for this talky but flavorful comedy-drama by Pupi Avati comes with a menu.The story is set against an engagement dinner at the home of a rural family in Italy in 1936.
One of the daughters is about to be married to a city dweller she considers a few steps above her station. Her name is Silvia, and she's played with the right amount of charming apprehension by Lucrezia Lante Della Rovere.
Silvia has a right to be nervous: Her family is impulsive, unrestrained and it seems totally devoid of self-awareness. Her father is a hypocrite - a womanizer who bursts into tears when he learns that his young mistress has been unfaithful to him. However, he's made no attempt to hide his infidelities from his wife and the rest of the family.
It's a household in which anyone can do anything at anytime.
Angelo, Silvia's husband-to-be, is a good-natured lad played by Davide Bechini. Out of his entire family, he's the only one who sees nothing unusual about such a cross-class engagement. Somehow, Angelo's mother thinks his fiancee is unworthy despite the fact that Angelo is a high-school dropout who knows how to do nothing except spend the family money.
When Angelo's aunts and sisters and mother travel to the country for the engagement feast, the stage is set for an array of tensions, seduction attempts, flare-ups and reconciliations.
Avati keeps a sure hand on the tone. This is not a movie of large gestures or cinematic short-hand or major story exposition. Everything unfolds naturally and anecdotally.
Apparently much of the movie is based on Avati's family history, but he doesn't bring a sentimental perspective to the movie. Many of these people do foolish and embarrassing things. Silvia is at times horrified by her family's behavior, but Angelo tells her all is proceeding well.
The preparations and the feast are a treat in themselves. Huge pans of pasta and roasts and wild game are diligently worked over by everyone, including the village priest. Authentic Tuscan dishes such as calves liver in lemon sauce, boiled beef with pepper sauce and tortellini in broth are recited at the table with reverence as well as relish.
At the heart of the movie, Avati demonstrates how such rituals protect families and social situations from the unpredictable conflicts and awkwardnesses that inevitably occur during such large and important events. `The Story of Boys and Girls' ***: An Aries release at the Grandin Theatre (345-6177). Unrated, but the sexual content isn't any more graphic than that found in R-rated movies. 92 minutes.