It was screened twice in March as part of the Siskel Film Center's European Film Festival. It did reasonably well. Both screenings sold out and the second one was moved into the larger of their two theatres. There wasn't much promotion here. It had a distributor listed before the credits (maybe Magnolia Pictures), so even if it doesn't get much of a theatrical release, it should see home video somewhat soon.
It's an interesting film and certainly worth seeing, but I'm not certain it (aside from Swinton) lives up to its full potential. There's very little obvious men's Jil included. Most of the men wear your standard "nice Italian suiting". The central family runs a textile factory, but there's not much attention on the production or design. There are hints at commentary on the globalized economy, but aside from a couple weak jokes (I'm Indian Indian. Not American Indian), this is not developed. That's one of the issues. It dabbles in a few areas that are never fully addressed and sometimes they distract from the central relationships.
The plot turns on the family's relationship with an up and coming chef. At times he recalls a young Stefano Pilati. My tastes parallel at least one person on the production crew seeing how the central sex scene involves Tilda and a pair of orange Jil pants. Her wardrobe is generally spot on (and there's no reason it shouldn't be). There was one dress that I can't recall that didn't seem so perfect, but the rest worked. Tilda also speaks Italian throughout and does a nice job.
There's an underdeveloped subplot involving a lesbian daughter. Someone dropped the ball because she stuck with her generic urban outfitters style. Mommy should've taken her shopping after she came out.
I couldn't quite place the tone. There are some ridiculously overblown musical cues that I assume are meant to be funny. They're placed during some of the key moments. I'm guessing they were going for those absurdly baroque/operatic heights of something like Senso or The Damned. There's also a nice use of some Bunuelian insects and other creepies intercut with a love scene.
If I think of anything else, I'll post it.
Why didn't I know about this movie at the timeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
