Italian Film Festival

An Almost Ordinary Summer 
Palace Nova Eastend

Lavazza Italian Film Festival

An Almost Ordinary Summer is about two families being brought together for a surprise wedding; the aristocratic family of Tony (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) and the working-class family of Carlo (Alessandro Gassmann) who have to somehow explain to their immediate families they have fallen in love and will be getting married in three weeks. Carlo’s family find it difficult to accept as there has never been a hint of him ever being attracted to men while the news is less surprising for Tony’s family who has always known him to be more of a free spirit and eccentric man.

With each side of the families trying to break up the couple and make sure the wedding doesn’t go ahead what really happens is the family dynamics are challenged and for some all the unresolved issues are brought to the surface. Sandro (Filippo Scicchitano), Carlo’s son struggles to understand how his father has fallen in love with a man and what this means about his parents relationship when his mother was alive while Tony ‘s daughter Penelope (Jasmine Trinca) struggles with issues of abandonment. They both try to plot to stop the wedding much to the detriment of their own lives.

Throw into the mix, kids, grandkids and an ex-wife there’s plenty of mayhem to wonder if the bond between the two men is as strong as they think it is and if wedding will go ahead. An Almost Ordinary Summer is a light-hearted romantic comedy that focuses more on the intricacy of family dynamics and the difference of class between the men and their families.  The Lavazza Italian Film Festival has added some great comedies this year and this is another one.