La cena
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | La cena |
| Country of production | Italy , France |
| original language | Italian |
| Publishing year | 1998 |
| length | 126 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ettore Scola |
| script | Ettore Scola, Silvia Scola , Furio Scarpelli , Giacomo Scarpelli |
| production | Franco Committeri |
| music | Armando Trovajoli |
| camera | Franco Di Giacomo |
| cut | Raimondo Crociani |
| occupation | |
| |
La cena (German: "The dinner") is an Italian - French comedy film by Ettore Scola from 1998.
action
The Italian restaurant "Arturo Al Portico" is a meeting place for all kinds of people. Families, couples, loners, tourists, a magician, a professor and many others come and go, gather around 14 tables where people not only eat, but also debate, celebrate, sing and watch. Flora, the owner of the restaurant, is always friendly and tactful. She always has an open ear for the problems of her guests and keeps her calm and serenity, while her communist cook expresses frustration about the world situation. The old teacher Pezzullo even comes every day. Flora appreciates his loyalty and has been giving him a discount on his food for years. Pezzullo enjoys watching his fellow human beings while they are eating - because he can be sure that he will witness a new drama every evening. Sometimes he gives the other guests wise and well-intentioned advice.
That evening a woman named Isabella is present with her daughter. When the daughter tells her that she wants to become a nun, Isabella is horrified - she cannot imagine that a girl would voluntarily renounce worldly joys forever. Another woman is waiting for her four lovers, whom she wants to pour pure wine. At a next table, two actors discuss their new play, in which one will have no dialogue and the other is allowed to speak the best lines. A professor then arrives with a young student with whom he is having an affair. When he learns that the student has written a letter to his wife to let her know that she loves him and wants to have him to herself, the professor reacts to the illusions of his lover with cynicism. He opens her eyes with it, which is why she finally leaves him. Fates are decided at each table while Japanese tourists take photos of the guests.
Flora now has her own grief. She fell in love with one of her many suitors. He will soon be moving to Norway for professional reasons and asks you to go with him. Flora does not want to give up her restaurant, which is why she ended the relationship and at the end of the evening played cards with the remaining guests.
background
For the films Le Bal - Der Tanzpalast (1983) and The Family (1987), director Ettore Scola chose a single setting for the plot. While Le Bal takes place exclusively in a dance hall and The Family in an apartment in Rome , in La cena a restaurant forms the center of the action. Scola and his long-time companion Furio Scarpelli wrote the script together with their children Silvia Scola and Giacomo Scarpelli.
La cena premiered on September 3, 1998 at the Venice International Film Festival . The film was not released in Germany.
Reviews
For Deborah Young of Variety , Ettore Scola's La cena was "a relaxed, well-oiled comedy with little indigestion", but "pretty shallow for a Scola film". Thanks to the director's “masterful instinct for comedy and his amazing ability to keep the ball in the air and keep the dialogues going”, the film will nevertheless find its audience. The editor Raimondo Crociani also "skilfully cut the material together so that it remains amusing for more than two hours". Fotograma.com described the film as "a delicious comedy of the old Italian school that puts a warm smile on your face".
Awards
In 1999 Franco Committeri received a nomination for the David di Donatello in the category Best Producer. There was another nomination for the Grand Prix of the Americas for Ettore Scola at the World Film Festival in Montreal . La cena was also nominated for the Nastro d'Argento in five categories . Scola's film lost to the competition in the categories of Best Cinematography , Best Production Design and Best Screenplay . The male cast and Stefania Sandrelli as best supporting actress were ultimately able to win the award.
Web links
- La cena in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ "Ettore Scola's The Dinner , a relaxing, well-oiled comedy with little to digest, [...] is strictly Scola-lite. Yet the director's masterly feel for comedy and uncanny ability to keep the ball in the air and dialog flowing […] suggests that the film will have a small but faithful stream of customers. [...] Editor Raimondo Crociani does a masterful job of splicing together all this material so it remains amusing for over two hours. " Deborah Young: The Dinner . In: Variety , December 6, 1998.
- ↑ "Delicada comedia al viejo estilo italiano que Apunta a sonreír con el corazón." See. Una cena Particular to fotograma.com, October 12, 2000.