A Summer in Genoa (2008)

A man moves his two daughters to Italy after their mother dies in a car accident, in order to revitalize their lives. Genova changes all three of them as the youngest daughter starts to see the ghost of her mother, while the older one discovers her sexuality.

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Writers:

Laurence Coriat (screenplay), Michael Winterbottom (screenplay)

Stars:

Colin Firth, Perla Haney-Jardine, Willa Holland

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Colin Firth	...	Joe
Perla Haney-Jardine	...	Mary
Willa Holland	...	Kelly
Catherine Keener	...	Barbara
Hope Davis	...	Marianne
Margherita Romeo	...	Rosa
Alessandro Giuggioli	...	Lorenzo
Dante Ciari	...	Fabio
Gherardo Crucitti	...	Mauro
Monica Bennati	...	Monica
Angelica Moretti	...	Angelica
Carlo Moretti	...	Carlo
Sara Stewart	...	Susanna
James Laurenson	...	Marianne's Father
Gary Wilmes	...	Danny

Storyline

How do children respond to tragedy? On an icy road near Chicago, Marianne dies in a crash, leaving Joe and their daughters, Kelly, about 16, and Mary, about 9. That summer, a friend from Joe's graduate student days, 20 years before, arranges a teaching job for him in Genoa. When they arrive in June, Joe starts teaching and the girls have the summer before school starts: Kelly quickly falls in with youths her age; their club and beach life leads to sexual awakening. Mary, burdened by guilt for her mother's death, is solitary. The girls take piano lessons, Mary draws, and she also sees and talks to her mother. Joe asks them, "Are you okay?", but is that enough?

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Plot Keywords:

guilt | imaginary person | mourning | guilt complex | summer | 

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Taglines:

We all need a place to start again.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexuality and drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Diaphana [France]

Country:

UK Sweden Cayman Islands

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

27 March 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Summer in Genoa

Filming Locations:

Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Films, Aramid Entertainment Fund, Film4

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The piece of music Kelly plays on the piano for her father and Barbara is Etude no. 3 in E major, Op. 10, no. 3 "Tristesse" by Frederic Chopin.

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Goofs

On their way from the airport, when they pass in the car in front of a fresco of Saint George fighting against the dragon, Ms. Keener says that Saint George is the Saint Patron of Genova. Now, it's true that Saint George has a strong link to the history of the city: the banner bears the cross of Saint George, in the middle ages the Bank which funded expeditions overseas (by the way it's the building that shows the fresco seen in the movie) was named after Saint George etc. but the Patron of Genova, since XIII century, is John the Baptist and he came to be after Genoese crusaders (First crusade) brought back from Holy Land his ashes, which are still kept in the Cathedral.

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Quotes

Susanna: Going away isn't a cure.
Joe: Well, I'm not sick.

User Reviews

Vacuous empty characters/film

Without reiterating what was said above about this movie, I would like to add that I was looking forward to watching this film...the cast/location and the work of the excellent director Michael Winterbottom etc...It had a vague shadow of 'Don't look Now' about the storyline from the beginning. A stay in different surroundings (Italy again) to dim the heartbreak of loss...or perhaps that's how I saw it? So consequently I sat there waiting for the story to unfold and put a spin on what we expect to happen to this family in a foreign European country....and I sat there and sat there....and guess what? nothing actually happens! and I mean nothing!! You are not even given the chance to get into the characters as they are so 1 dimensional and vacuous..You are led to believe from the pace of the movie that something was going to happen to turn the whole film on it's head...The eldest daughters flirtation with the local vespa boys, had great scope to take the movie in another direction, the youngest daughters visions of her dead mother ended up being a fruitless and pointless exercise, the fathers attempts at being seduced by one of his female students felt ridiculous given his age. It felt as if the script had a last recall made where they decided at the last minute to eradicated any guts to the story and went for paring it down to a bare minimum to no effect. When the credits started to roll (unexpectedly) you can't help but feel robbed of your time spent sat watching this pile of rubbish.