Northern European films so often leave me feeling like an umbrella salesman trapped in the Sahara; set adrift in a bleak and meaningless existence. Italian for Beginners had its share of slow lingering parental deaths, disfunctional families, major social faux pas and the ever popular loss of job. Yet, in spite of the doom and destruction raging all around, love and happiness sprout up through cracks in the asphalt, giving us the feeling that everything may just work out after all.

I discovered after seeing the film that its director subscribes to a filmmaking movement recently started in Copenhagen called Dogme in which the director foregoes all but the most basic filmmaking implements in an attempt to reclaim the simple story telling aspects of film that Hollywood has thrown by the wayside in favor of glamor and special effects. I applaud the sentiment behind the movement and am glad to see such a fine piece of work come out of it.

I was unmoved. Though the film had a striking visual style and outstanding art work, it lacked anything resembling an interesting plot or coherent characters. I’m willing to make concessions for cultural differences, but I was left feeling that this was more like the Japanese equivalent of Collateral Damage.

The film was well crafted and the hapless tripper was good for more than a few laughs, but in the final analysis, only one out of a cast of ten or so characters was at all likeable. Being a film that focused so closely on its characters, it left one not giving much of a damn what happens in the end. That said, I did enjoy the movie, but I’m a sucker for silly jokes and thumping party scenes.