[edit] # 23:01

Baked goods and growing things

Bread and Tulips was probably my best result ever for seeing a completely random movie. I knew nothing about it before I saw it, hadn't even seen so much as a preview, and I ended up loving it. Pane e Tulipani is the actual title, and it won nine of Italy's Donatello Awards in 2000. It's a romantic comedy about Rosalba, an unhappy Italian housewife (Licia Maglietta) who is on vacation with her family when she accidentally gets left behind by a tour bus. Dutifully making her way home, she decides on a whim to visit Venice. Her stay there gets gradually drawn out as she finds friends, an apartment and a job, all the while discovering her own independence and her identity apart from her family. The cast of characters is delightful. A neighbor is a holistic beautician and masseuse, and the florist is an anarchist with strong floral opinions. The bumbling amateur detective is actually a plumber, but reads a lot of mystery novels. A sweet but suicidal Icelandic waiter provides some nicely understated romantic interest, and the Icelandic quirks of his Italian translate into some surprisingly amusing English subtitles. All are played beautifully, making real characters out of what could easily have become caricatures.

One extra thing that really sold me on this movie was that Maglietta actually does her own accordion playing in a couple scenes. As a musician, I really appreciate seeing that. The music in general for the movie is good, but I especially liked the chromatic, G minor waltz that she first plays on the accordion. Absolutely gorgeous.

Overall: a beautiful movie about striking out on your own and learning self-reliance, with some good humor and music thrown in. Definitely recommended.

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