If ever a debut film deserved the description of 'a tour de force', "Sinyora Enrica ile Italyan Olmak" by Ali İlhan definitely is it. "Signora Enrica "tells the story of Sinyora Enrica (played by the consummate actress Claudia Cardinale-the voluptuous, well-rounded and Junoesque Jill McBain of C'era una volta il West ) who is notorious for not allowing any men into her house ever since her husband left her- apparently- for another woman years ago. Disillusioned and embittered Signora regards her son just a part of her husband so she never feels much for him. She just sends him to a boarding school. Hardened and resentful by the way life has treated her; Signora takes in female students as lodgers to make a bit of extra money while she also works as a tailor and runs a stand at the local market. One day, when a Turkish male student named Ekin (which is an androgynous name in Turkish) turns up at her door, Signora breaks with her age-old rule and opens her door to this boy, who does not speak at least a modicum of Italian. Ekin does not have the basic knowledge of Italian so that he can actually practice and improve his Italian in the language school he's supposed to attend. Signora, impressed by the way Ekin defended her against her being bullied to give him money, decides to help out this kid. As he helps him, she radiates new hope, joy and happiness. This may sound like a clichéd story to some but there is plenty of great, sweet acting in it, thanks to the time-honored Claudia Cardinale and the talented Ismail Hacıoğlu, who's become a prolific actor now. (This has been his 11th movie since 2001). As Ekin tries to improve his language abilities and catch the attention of another lodger, a Sicilian girl called Valentina (Lavinia Longhi) who is mostly portrayed in every sexist stereotype rolled into her; pretty, complacent, flighty and promiscuous) He realizes there's much more to learning a language than just learning new words and grammatical structures. In spite of the all of the clichés, this one was a great watch to me. It just makes you want to and learn some Italian. As a cinema-goer, I do apologize for leaving this movie alone at the box-office. Over the past few years, there have been many debut films in Turkish cinema but not enough efforts and financial means for debut directors to continue their art. I do hope Ali Ilhan finds the chance to make more movies.
Review of Sinyora Enrica ile Italyan Olmak
Lost in Translation:Turco-Italiano duo exploring loneliness, alienation,disillusionment, and culture shock
8 April 2012
Warning: Spoilers