Mid-August Lunch (2008)
"Pranzo di ferragosto" (original title)

Gianni is a middle-aged man living in Rome with his imposing and demanding elderly mother. His only outlet from her and the increasing debt into which they are sinking, are the increasingly... See full summary »

Director:

Gianni Di Gregorio

Writers:

Gianni Di Gregorio (story), Simone Riccardini (story),

Stars:

Valeria De Franciscis, Marina Cacciotti, Maria Calì

8 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Valeria De Franciscis	...	Madre di Gianni
Marina Cacciotti	...	Madre di Alfonso
Maria Calì	...	Maria
Grazia Cesarini Sforza	...	Grazia
Alfonso Santagata	...	Alfonso
Luigi Marchetti	...	Vichingo
Biagio Ursitti
Petre Rosu	...	Barbone
Gianni Di Gregorio	...	Gianni
Marcello Ottolenghi	...	Amico dottore

Storyline

Gianni is a middle-aged man living in Rome with his imposing and demanding elderly mother. His only outlet from her and the increasing debt into which they are sinking, are the increasingly frequent quiet sessions at the local tavern. As an Oriental saying goes, 'Moments of crisis are moments of opportunities'. These appear during the celebration of the holiday of Ferragosto on 15 August. That's when everybody leaves town to have fun. Opportunity knocks on Gianni's door in the most unexpected way,

---

Plot Keywords:

august | mother | elderly | dinner | cook | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Fandango [Italy] Le Pacte [France]

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

5 September 2008 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Mid-August Lunch

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

€500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$13,090 (USA) (19 March 2010)

Gross:

$673,721 (USA) (3 September 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Archimede, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (MiBAC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Secretariat (2010)

User Reviews

A delight

I loved this movie! It's a little movie that totally captivated me. It's the story of a middle-aged unmarried man who lives in Rome with his mother. Money is obviously tight but they seem to live a very nice life. Unfortunately, the condominium bills keep piling up. So when the head of the condominium offers to forgive the expenses in return for his caring for the condo head's mother for 2 days (over Ferragosto), he agrees. When the mother shows up, an aunt also comes - obviously a packaged deal. Through another act of fate, another elderly woman comes to share the overnight experience. The women are wonderful as is the main actor (Gianni DiGregorio) - he is also the writer and director. He was at the showing I attended and shared some interesting info. These women are not actors. One is his aunt and one is a family friend. He found the other two at a home for the elderly. Said he interviewed 100 women and had trouble deciding because so many were so wonderful. The crew was exhausted at the end of the day - these women were on a roll - and all were over 90 years old. The apartment in which he lived was actually the apartment in which he had lived with his mother. This was a low- budget film which was one of the reasons that he starred in the film, i.e., he couldn't afford to hire a "real" actor. Thank you Gianni for a wonderful movie!