Kiss Me Again

Ten years ago L’Ultimo Bacio (The Last Kiss) scooped the pool at the Donatello awards and a year later took the audience prize at Sundance. Fans have been eagerly awaiting this sequel, which looks at the characters’ lives ten years along the track. In the interim, Muccino has also directed The Pursuit Of Happyness and Seven Pounds, similarly dealing with male characters in crisis, and there are plenty of those in this film.  He obviously also has a penchant for melodrama and there’s also plenty of that!

I found myself really enjoying Baciami Ancora, even though it was overly long. Several of the main leads from the first film are still playing the same roles and the continuity is pleasing. In The Last Kiss Carlo ends up marrying his pregnant girlfriend, but is reluctant to take on the responsibilities of adulthood and their marriage is marred by affairs. Now, at 40, his voice-over speculates on how he may now be ready to settle with a woman again (albeit 15 years his junior!!) His main focus however is his daughter, Sveva, “the fruit of a love we destroyed” as he describes her. That daughter brings him in constant contact with Giulia, who now lives with an out-of-work actor, Simone (Adriano Giannini). It soon becomes apparent Giulia and Carlo are not totally over each other.

The men’s relationships with their women (or ex-women) are sensitively explored and possibly many people will relate to the sorts of conflicts depicted: separated people handling parent-teacher nights; how to relate to a live-in partner when you drop your child back home; how to ask your child if he wants to meet a parent he has never known; how to broach the topic of whether your partner is unfaithful. Many of these scenes are handled in a very truthful way and the dialogue feels real with tangible emotion. It is also a pleasant change to see men discussing emotional issues (even though this may simply be a cinematic stereotype).

Marco is played by Pierfrancesco Favino, whoe brings that little extra to his part so that, despite the bombastic, bullying nature of his character,we manage to see and relate to the hurt underneath. A memorable performance is also that of Italian veteran, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as Adele, a gentle single mother who Adriano meets while delivering some religious paraphernalia to a village outside of Rome.

Where the film falls down is in its repetition, especially in the Carlo/Giulia situation. As they waver between arguing and mellowing, I keep hearing the words “soap-opera” and “melodrama” going through my head. A little judicious editing may have counteracted this. Similarly Paolo’s fits of depression, alternated with optimistic times, are also somewhat repetitive. Contrawise, the character of Alberto hardly gets a look in at all.. And as for the ending . . . well it’s formula with a capital F.

Baciami Ancora looks great – slick and attractive, and the soundtrack, replete with many English songs, really moves things along. So, despite its indulgent length and the liberal helping of melodrama, I feel kindly disposed and a little contemplative after this highly romanticized film – thinking about what it means to grow old, and how, as the voice-over says: “Life doesn’t always give you what you want in the way you want it”, but how things just seem to work out.

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