Rotten
Scherfig, who has had a successful career in TV, tackles more than she can handle.
Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Italian for Beginners
Attendance optional. Passion required.
2000 · 1h 58m · R
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed by
Lone Scherfig
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Italian for Beginners
Overview
Several lonely hearts in a semi-provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives. The film, which unspools the connections and family drama shared between the students, complies with several aesthetic principles of Dogme 95 movement.
Director and cast
- Lone Scherfig Director
- Anders W. Berthelsen as Andreas
- Anette Støvelbæk as Olympia
- Ann Eleonora Jørgensen as Karen
- Peter Gantzler as Jørgen Mortensen
- Lars Kaalund as Hal-Finn
- Sara Indrio Jensen as Giulia
- Karen-Lise Mynster as Real Estate Dealer
- Rikke Wölck as Nurse
- Bent Mejding Cast
- Elsebeth Steentoft Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
87%
Tomatometer
Fresh
An engaging Danish movie that rises from the ashes of loneliness and despair to spread feelings of happiness across the screen.
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
Fresh
A rarity: a humane picture about modern romance among believable adults.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Fresh
[Scherfig] has made a movie that will leave you wondering about the characters' lives after the clever credits roll.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Fresh
The combination of lightness and strictness in this instance gives Italian for Beginners an amiable aimlessness that keeps it from seeming predictably formulaic.
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
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