A casa tutti bene (2018)

Directed by: Gabriele Muccino | 105 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Stefano Accorsi, Carolina Crescentini, Elena Cucci, Pierfrancesco Favino, Claudia Gerini, Massimo Ghini, Sabrina Impacciatore, Gianfelice Imparato, Ivano Marescotti, Giulia Michelini, Sandra Milo, Giampaolo Morelli, Stefania Sandrelli, Valeria Solarino, Gianmarco Tognazzi

Recently John Lanting, the king of farce with his ‘Theatre of Laughter’ passed away. No sooner had the lover disappeared through the one stage door than the husband had already entered through another, while her hair was still confused. You remember it from the time when you sat in front of the picture tube with wet hair. Then you had to go to bed, because ‘Turkish Delight’ came and that was for grown-ups.

‘A casa tutti bene’ (‘all is well at home’) uses a similar principle. It’s an entertaining Italian soap opera in which far too much happens for great emotions, but it’s alive. The premise of the film is a family gathering that turns everything upside down. Made a little, but hey. Uncle and aunt have been married for fifty years and children, brothers, sisters, cousins, supporters and exes are once again on each other’s lips after years. That’s nice because it only lasts a day, everyone knows. The party is also on the beautiful island of Ischia.

When the black sheep goes behind the piano to play the original of Marco Borsato’s Margarita, everyone hooks up, while the mothers pat their children on the head. Then it starts to storm and the ferry is cancelled. Everyone has to spend the night with uncle and aunt. Does the atmosphere change too? Not immediately. But: che casino, la vita! An uncle has Alzheimer’s and must be re-introduced to his relatives, extramarital dates go wrong and spouses in crisis threaten to push each other off the rocks after their first lovemaking in ages.

And, oh yes: a cousin who once shared a first kiss decide to cash in on the passion of that time, while their daughter is watching. Sometimes director Muccino doesn’t even manage to capture the storylines in different scenes, and the scolding couples walk through the screen at the same time. Fortunately, the important roles are performed adequately and fairly serenely, so that this overcrowded theater of the tear remains credible.

Surprisingly, there are even some emotional moments, for example around the demented Sandro and his younger wife, who are tired of waiting for death. After five quarters of an hour it is enough and you expect a long table full of Bertolli, but the whole is tied off appropriately. Son (Stefano Accorsi), who just broke up with his niece and never settled down, says to mother (Stefania Sandrelli): ‘I want a normal life’. Mother: ‘normal lives don’t exist’. enough.