I vividly remember the day I first watched this movie.
It was in my Italian Cinema class for the week on Feminism. Not the bra-burning brand of feminism so breathe easy you guys.
An Italian family goes on holiday to Greece. At one of the pitstops, the mother gets held back in the ladies trying to retrieve her wedding ring which had dropped into the toilet bowl. Her no-good husband (mistress on the side) and 2 boys (weed junkies) fail to notice the mother missing when the bus leaves.
While waiting for her family to turn back and get her, she decides to begger that and run off with a random stranger, thereby launching into this amazing road trip! (my favourite genre of films!!)
There is no road trip movie like this one. Quirky, off-tangent but completely relatable and lovable characters. Most importantly, it does something to you.
Interestingly, the day I watched this movie is the day I had my first date with Gin. I remember escaping through the back of the movie hall after the screening, gleefull, full of anticipation and ended up finding love, much like the character in the movie (okay fine, it’s a far stretch…).
Come to think of it, I may have skipped the lecture on this film. Anyway, I digress…
Good films, like good friends, sometimes inspire you with just the right feeling at just the right moment in your life. It’s like the heavens opening up and calling out to you: ACT!
When we hear the word feminism, it does not usually evoke very positive images. But this film was not activisty or have any male-bashing at all. In fact, I believe a man and a woman could relate to this film equally well. When I found out that it was written by a husband-wife team, then it all made sense.
The best results can only come from a such united collaboration, no?
Don’t miss this film!
