Italiensk for Begyndere (2000)

Italian for Beginners
Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Anders W Berthelson, Peter Gantzler,
Lars Kaalund, Ann Eleanora Jørgensen,
Sara Indrio Jensen, Annette Støvelbæk,
Lene Tiemroth, Jesper Christensen,
Bent Mejding

When the Criterion Channel uploaded Italiensk for Begyndere (Italian for Beginners), my husband decided it was time to watch this 2000 movie. Since I had nothing better to do, I sat down to watch as well.

Amidst a bleak winter in a small town near Copenhagen, Denmark, we meet a few of the town’s residents – Andreas (Anders W Berthelson), a newly arrived pastor; Jørgen Mortenson (Peter Gantzler), the hotel manager;  Halvfin (Lars Kaalund), the arrogant and hot-tempered restaurant manager Mortenson’s hotel; Karen (Ann Eleanora Jørgensen), the hairdresser with an alcoholic mother (Lene Tiemroth); Olympia (Annette Støvelbæk), the clumsy pastry shop employee and the put-upon daughter of a verbally-abusive father (Jesper Christensen); and Guilia (Sara Indrio Jensen), the pretty Italian waitress who is secretly in love with Mortenson.

Andreas is in town to stand in for the local pastor (Bent Mejding) who has been suspended. (The latter had a penchant for pushing parishioners he disagreed with over the church balcony.) He is recently widowed and is still grieving the loss of his wife.

Jørgen is harbouring an attraction to Guilia but is too nervous to ask her out – he hasn’t had much luck with the ladies in the past and his self-confidence is at an all-time low.

Halvfin is obsessed with football, has a very good opinion of himself and is obnoxious to paying customers, so much so that the owner finally fires him. He and Karen are mutually attracted until his unruly tongue upsets Karen and she sends him packing.

Olympia is always dropping trays of pastry (or anything she holds) or tripping over her own feet to answer her father’s continuous complaints about her. Her only rebellion is taking an Italian class at the city town hall despite her father’s disapproval.

Karen has dreams of buying her own salon but she has an alcoholic mother to take care of; she is independent and capable but still vulnerable as one crucial scene shows us.

Guilia is the only one among the six who – seemingly – has no issues whatsoever, other than trying to get Jørgen to take an interest in her without having to explicitly state her affection for him.

These six people are our protagonists.

Andreas, Olympia. Jørgen and Halvfin take Italian classes, and when the instructor suddenly dies, Halvfin is persuaded to take over the classes. Karen joins in because she wants to meet Halvfinn, and Guilia, while Italian herself, joins so as to get an opportunity to meet Jørgen again.

Italiensk for begyndere  is a story about friendship, about loss, about trust. As a premise, it’s not unique (which makes it surprising that it won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale). What makes the film entertaining is that the characters are more complex than they initially seem. The feelings of loneliness, anger, depression, etc., and the longing for companionship, love and happiness are universal. The characters are also refreshingly real, allowing the audience to both sympathize and empathize with their not-so-perfect selves and their imperfect quests for happiness. The tragic undertones of their lives are like footnotes – only there when you look for them.

According to Wikipedia, Dogme 95, founded by Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, is an avant-garde style of film-making that focuses on story, theme and acting and excludes elaborate special effects or technology. Director Scherfig followed the principles of Dogme 95, using only a handheld camera and natural light to film this light romantic comedy. The only other Dogme film that I have seen has been the dreary Dancer in the Dark, and if I’d known this was a part of the movement, I might have skipped watching it. [I can’t stand Lars von Trier’s films.] However, despite dealing with rather ‘heavy’ themes such as impotence, suicide, mercy killing, alcoholism, etc., Scherfig, who’s the first woman to direct a ‘Dogme film’, treads lightly and with humour, giving us characters we can empathise with and root for. Like all rom-coms, Italiensk for begyndere depends upon coincidences to unravel the tangles, but what keeps you hooked is the writing (Scherfig) and the excellent acting from the ensemble cast. The film is touching without being sentimental and the dry humour did surprise a few chuckles out of me.

Italiensk for begyndere  is a breezy one-time watch; it entertains and tells us a few home-truths without beating us on the head with it.

Trivia: Winner of several awards at prestigious film festivals, the film ran into controversy when discerning viewers discovered the film’s plot closely resembled that of Evening Classes by Maeve Binchy.