Italian for Beginners Poster

Italian for Beginners (2000)

Comedy | Romance 
Rayting:   7.1/10 12.8K votes
Country: Denmark | Sweden
Language: Danish | Italian
Release date: 15 November 2001

Several lonely hearts in a semi provincial suburb of a town in Denmark use a beginner's course in Italian as the platform to meet the romance of their lives.

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User Reviews

madrig80 24 January 2004

The true protagonists of this movie are not the characters, but their feelings. In particular, I admired the skills of the director in entering into the desire of the "Danish" for the warmth and liveliness that Italians exhibit. If you can not stand the the fact that the camera is constantly moving and nobody has any make up, then, do not watch it. However, you would miss a funny and heartwarming movie with no frills and enjoyable hidden messages, for example that friendship and love can bring the sun of Italy into one's heart, or that life can always take unexpected turns.

LeRoyMarko 26 March 2006

Fmovies: What an evening well spent watching this film. It's poignant, touching, funny. It explores themes that are not always easy to talk about on the big screen: euthanasia for one, impotence for another. It also touches the tragedy of losing someone close to you. The cast is very good, all six of them, but especially Anette Stovelbaeck, Ann Eleonara Jorgensen and Peter Gantzler. And Sara Indrio Jensen is superb! Too bad she hasn't played in another movie. The dogme style goes well with this story. But one must get pass the first 10 minutes or so during which the hand-held camera can make you a bit dizzy!

Seen at home, in Toronto, on March 25th, 2006.

80/100 (***)

claudio_carvalho 10 May 2004

In Denmark, six lonely persons are having Italian classes sponsored by the City Hall. Jørgen Mortensen (Peter Gabtzler) is a shy hotel manager who has a crush on Giulia (Sara Indrio Jensen), a young Italian woman who works in an Italian restaurant and is secretly in love with him. Olympia (Anette Støvelbæk) is a clumsy clerk of a candy shop, who lives with her sullen father and is in love with Andreas (Anders W. Berthelsen), a young widow priest recently arrived in town. And the hairdresser Karen (Ann Eleonora Jørgensen), whose mother is an alcoholic woman, who loves Hal-Finn (Lars Kaalund), an incompetent and aggressive bar manager of the hotel where his best friend Jørgen Mortensen works. I am not a fan of Dogma 95 movies (the movement which uses handheld camera, natural light and sound and no special effects), but in this delightful romance the actors are so spontaneous that indeed it works. This unconventional love story, with euthanasia, common people, losers in general, Danish persons speaking Italian, is actually a great romance. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): ` Italiano Para Principiantes' (`Italian For Beginners')

potblackettle 28 July 2003

Italian for Beginners fmovies. A clever film, with low production values but a witty script and great cast. The characters are so real and vivid. You sympathize with them, want them to succeed. There are so many tiny little things that make it leap from the screen. As you become caught up in the story you forget that the camera is a little shaky, the video not always perfectly focused. The scenes in Italy are absolutly beautiful. The director uses colors well, the color of the characters clothes reflects their emotions. Never heavy handed or pushy, just a sweet little film.

mmq007 12 March 2002

This is a pleasant and entertaining little movie and it was fun seeing new faces and styles. The story is interesting and relevant. The people believable and charming. I enjoyed getting to know them as they got to know each other. the film employs a delicate approach to such topics as death, impotence, God and loneliness. I wasn't always enthralled. A couple of scenes dragged a bit and my attention began to wander. The woes and goals of some characters lacked originality. The situations have been depicted many times in many movies. None the less, I was never bored, never annoyed and did not feel slighted as the viewer.

An impressive cast and tight direction keep the show moving efficiently and provide a dependable vehicle for the delivery of the intended results in a satisfying manner.

What surprised me was the number of cinematic conventions incorporated into a project that reportedly meant to avoid them. I claim no authority on the Dogma 95 movement, but I understand they aspire to strip a movie of as many mainstream cliches as possible. Standard story elements and cinematography are not what the filmmakers wish to present.

One of the conventions they frown on is the artificial insertion of background music. Yet this movie does use such incidental music in one scene, in a very traditional format. It's even an old, familiar tune. Like "Rock Of Ages" at a funeral or "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" when we see Yankee Stadium. And for an approach expected to break with tradition, there is an awful lot of happily ever after in the resolutions to the various conflicts.

The average looking actors and the less than beautiful scenery add greatly to the believability. The fun they, and in turn, we have with it offsets any flaws in the production. But it's going to take more than a hand held camera and a Scandinavian accent to overcome 100 years of accepted film technique. But I enjoyed the show and if they keep trying, I'll keep watching.

McBuff 16 February 2001

At the time of writing, "Italian for beginners" is a big hit on the Berlin Film Festival. The reason may be that it´s another film made under the Dogme 95 certificate, but it can easily stand on its own, without comparison to "The Celebration", "The Idiots" and "Mifune". Basically it´s a comedy-drama (although one of the Dogme rules prohibits genre definition) telling several interwoven stories connected by the Italian-for-beginners-class. There are a whole variety of characters: the young pastor, the hothead short order cook from the sports restaurant, the clumsy girl from the bakery etc. All very recognizable everyday types, but beautifully realized by its talented cast, with special kudos to Peter Gantzler, cast against type and hilariously underplaying as the nerdish impotent hotel clerk. Lars Kaalund is also very funny, sporting a very authentic sounding Italian.

Director Lone Scherfig has made a very endearing, romantic film that is very universal in its tone, which is probably why it has performed so well at the Berlin film festival. For a feel-good movie experience, you should definitely go see "Italian for beginners".

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