"Dear Diary" is one of the delights of the Italian cinema, an adrenaline shot of pure pleasure from writer, director and star Nanni Moretti who uses his position as a film-maker to indulge himself in all the things he enjoys about Italy; his adopted city of Rome, the Italian islands, even taking a wryly humorous look at his treatment for cancer. Consequently the film is part documentary, part a lopsided fiction in which he sets up a series of scripted situations with himself as the star. It's a wholly original concept though it may remind you of some of Fellini's later films since they are all essentially love letters to Rome and to Italy. But "Dear Diary" goes further; it's also Moretti's love letter to cinema and he takes great delight in puncturing the pretensions of certain critics and the kind of low-brow films and television he abhors, ("Henry; Portrait of a Serial Killer", a film I love, gets singled out for special treatment), and who won't allow themselves to be moved when he visits the place where Pasolini was murdered. As for Moretti, himself, who wouldn't want to spend time with this charming man. A treat from start to finish.
