Review of I Am Love (2010) by Homing F — 12 Jul 2010

"I Am Love" is an emotionally complex and sensual movie that starts out with the birthday celebration of octogenarian Edoardo Recchi(Gabriele Ferzetti, from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"). He chooses this occasion to finally surrender the reins of the family business that he has held on to so for very long, to not only his son Tancredi(Pippo Delbono) but also his grandson, also named Edoardo(Flavio Parenti). The patriarch represents the outdated way of doing things in his autocratic fashion with things never changing, like disapproving of his granddaughter Betta(Alba Rohrwacher) changing her hobby from painting to photography. And the central point of conversation at the dinner is the grandson actually losing a race to Antonio(Edoardo Gabbriellini), a chef, because this sort of thing is never supposed to happen.

A few months after the patriarch's death, a thawing of emotions takes place, as all bets are now officially off that allows the characters to start to find themselves.(The trick is to always be honest with yourself.) With Tancredi consumed with the business that has been left him, his Russian wife Emma(Tilda Swinton, proving that there is nothing she cannot do), who has been in a profound state of culture shock for the past three decades(in an aristocratic household, she has no problem with running errands and is friendly with the staff), is left with time to think and feel for herself for a change, that sends her rushing headlong towards a mesmerizing finale.