Dolce far niente (1998)

This movie depicts the two years that young Stendhal spent in Italy. Stendhal, that time still known simply as Henri Beyle, is living the life of a wanderer, looking for a direction in his ... See full summary »

Director:

Nae Caranfil

Writers:

Nae Caranfil, Frédéric Vitoux (book)

Stars:

François Cluzet, Isabella Ferrari, Margherita Buy

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
François Cluzet	...	Stendhal
Isabella Ferrari	...	Josephine
Margherita Buy	...	Countess Gabriella Nencini
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Count Nencini
Pierfrancesco Favino	...	Rossini
Teresa Saponangelo	...	Rosa
Gianni Fantoni	...	Rossini's agent

Storyline

This movie depicts the two years that young Stendhal spent in Italy. Stendhal, that time still known simply as Henri Beyle, is living the life of a wanderer, looking for a direction in his life, meeting famous Rossini and falling in love with young widow Giuseppina. A story of love, betrayal and an analysis of women and men's minds and souls.

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Plot Keywords:

based on book

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Romania Italy France Belgium

Language:

French

Release Date:

31 March 1999 (France)

Also Known As:

Die süße Kunst des Müßiggangs

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), Eurimages

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Typical Euro-pudding

This movie has been made by different production companies (Sintra, K2, France 2 Cinéma, CNC, Eurimages) who all wanted to have their crew-member or their own cast. So this movie has no consistent personality. It is based on the book by François Vitoux (La Comédie de Terracina) which based it on the book by Henri Beyle, better knwon as Stendhal: "Voyages à Rome, Naples, Florence 1817-1826". Nae Caranfil was the director and he made the script. The title: "Dolce far niente" suggests that the protagonists are not working and just making love; "Amor, Vino e Revolutione". Stendhal became later consul at Civittavecchia but this story happened during the twenties when he came for the first time in Italy and at that time he wrote articles about music and the arts. The fight against the revolutionaries gives the movie some action but most of the time it is a romance in a historical context. So Stendhal (François Cluzet) falls in love with Josphine (Isabella Ferrari). Everybody is calling Rossini "Maestro" and the countess is just a fan of him. It is not clear if Stendhal should have encountered Rossini (a wooden Pierfrancesco Favino) but this ads some historical figure to the weak script. This movie is just entertainment and is not pretentious but one wonders if you learn something more about Stendhal or Rossini.