Castle In Italy, A

Synopsis: A middle-aged, single and childless former actress, Louise (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) in the throes of a midlife crisis as her biological clock hammers in her ear, her family’s inherited wealth is about to disappear dues to financial mismanagement and her elder brother (Filippo Timi), dies of AIDS.

From its title you’d be forgiven for thinking that A Castle In Italy was one of those amiably rusticated romances about life in the Tuscan hills. On the contrary, talented actress-turned-director and co-writer, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi has turned out a nicely textured dramedy about the trials and tribulations of a well-to-do family who, free of the usual day-to-day constraints, have lost their way in life. Thematically it is strongly reminiscent of the recently-seen The Great Beauty but the focus here is very much on the main female character, Louise.

Despite being the third instalment of a semi-autobiographical series of films directed by Bruni Tedeschi and co-scripted by Agnes De Sacy and Noemie Lvovsky there is no need to know the earlier chapters to appreciate the director’s fondly understated and humorously self-aware treatment of her alter ego. A Castle In Italy is not high drama but it is grounded in reality, the film largely dealing with two incidents in the director’s own life: the 2006 death of her brother from AIDS and her 2009 adoption of an African baby together with her then-partner Louis Garrel who here plays Nathan, Louise’s much younger lover.

The film toggles between the Piedemontese castello where Louise’s aging mother (Bruni Tedeschi’s real mother, Marisa Borini) is struggling to decide how to preserve the beautiful family home and her brother’s health slowly deteriorates, and Paris where Louise starts a rocky relationship with the passionate but self-preoccupied Nathan.

Although the film would have benefited from a snip here and there to shorten its run-time Bruni Tedeschi maintains a nicely balanced approach to the weave of Louise’s complex story, elements, such as her eroticized relationship with her brother or the loss of her IVF baby with Nathan, being dealt with elliptically but no less effectively for that. A Castle In Italy is not a must-see but it is maturely charming story-telling.

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