The Salt of Life (2011)

Gianni is a retiree who has become invisible to most everyone around him. In response, he tries his best to generate some kind of extracurricular love life.

Director:

Gianni Di Gregorio

Writers:

Valerio Attanasio, Gianni Di Gregorio

Stars:

Gianni Di Gregorio, Valeria De Franciscis, Alfonso Santagata

5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Gianni Di Gregorio	...	Giovanni Brandani detto Gianni
Valeria De Franciscis	...	La madre di Gianni (as Valeria De Franciscis Bendoni)
Alfonso Santagata	...	l'avvocato Alfonso
Elisabetta Piccolomini	...	La moglie di Gianni
Valeria Cavalli	...	Valeria (as Valéria Cavalli)
Aylin Prandi	...	Aylin
Kristina Cepraga	...	Kristina
Michelangelo Ciminale	...	Michelangelo
Teresa Di Gregorio	...	Teresa
Lilia Silvi	...	Lilia
Gabriella Sborgi	...	Gabriella
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elisa Alessandro	...	Segretario notario
Cinzia Bernardini	...	Vigilessa
Giovanna Cau	...	Signore del poker
Tommaso Colucci	...	Cocktail acido

Storyline

Gianni is sixty. He is retired but has not become lazy for all that. In fact he is a helpful fellow who gives a hand to all those who need one: shopping for his wife, walking the pretty neighbor's dog, and so on. Everybody likes Gianni, but is it for the right reasons? Doesn't his wife profit by the situation (she still works so it is only logical that Gianni do all the chores)? Isn't he subject to the excruciating whims of his rich mother?... Sure, everybody LIKES Gianni, but who LOVES him? Agreed, being kind to them, he is the ladies pet, but he does not attract them anymore. That is why, when his macho lawyer friend Alfonso blames him for not having young mistresses "like every other senior Italian male", Gianni, who is beginning to ask himself questions about what it is like to become old, starts chasing dames...

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Plot Keywords:

italy | card game | lying on the sidewalk | watching television | cell phone | 

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Taglines:

Gianni is back & looking for love...

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Swiss censorship certificate #1008.258.

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Connections

Follows Mid-August Lunch (2008)

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Soundtracks

Here Comes Your Man
Lyrics and music by Frank Black
Performed by the Pixies
(1989)

User Reviews

Nice slice of contemporary Italian life

Some critics blamed this film for being a failed Italian comedy. For sure, supposing the aim of Gianni Di Gregorio (the director-writer-main actor) had been to make one, "Gianni e le donne" would not have hit the mark: it is indeed neither hilarious nor cruel enough to be a true successor of Risi, Scola, Monicelli and company. The reason why they criticized this movie simply lies in the fact that they had decided in advance that, with a title like "Gianni e le donne", the film was to be a new "I mostri" or "Il sorpasso" and they did not watch it for what it really was. By way of example, Gianni, the central character, has nothing to do with the "monsters" played by Gassman or Sordi. He is actually a genial retired man, well liked by his neighbors (a little too much, to tell the truth, as they tend to somewhat take advantage of his kindness). He is no seducer and if the title is "Gianni and the Women", the blame is to be put on his friend Alfonso, a sixty-odd-year-old lawyer who urges him to have mistresses to stay in the race. According to him, all the males over sixty, except Gianni, get laid with a younger woman, which, in addition to living life to the full, keeps them from becoming old hats. Gianni, the kind of man who goes with the flow, complies, even if halfheartedly, just like he obeys his capricious old mother whenever she rings for him, exactly the way he walks his downstairs neighbor's dog, etc. The good man will thus be seen trying his luck with several women: Kristina, his mother's sexy personal nurse ; the divorced daughter of one of his mother's friends ; one of a pair of attractive twins... With a level of success proportional to his lack of motivation! So, if you accept the idea that Gianni is not a Gassman or Manfredi-like monster, if you do not expect any graphic or even crazy sex (as the title could imply), you will doubtless enjoy "Gianni e le donne". For, what you will get instead is far from uninteresting, namely a relevant slice of life in today's Italy, containing an implicit criticism of its current defects (Gianni's future son-in-law who, as he does not find work, does not try to find any ; the pervasiveness of sex in everyday life ; the cult of youth tyranny) ; a leisurely rhythm similar to the pace of real life ; discreet smiles rather than big laughs. And if you value such qualities, you will not feel let down because of an incorrect supposition. Gianni Di Gregorio plays with talent this ordinary man who, through the misadventures he goes through, starts questioning himself about the meaning of his life and about the coming of old age. He can even move the unprejudiced viewer, without overplaying, in fine touches that, by an accumulation effect, add to the truthfulness of the character. In a way, Gianni Di Gregorio in this movie appears as a distant cousin - older and less eccentric - of Jean-Pierre Léaud in François Truffaut's "Domicile conjugal" As good as him, but in a more outlandish style, is the excellent Valeria De Franciscis, playing Gianni's rich and selfish mother. The rest of the cast fulfills its task to perfection. Viewing "Gianni e le donne" proves a very satisfying experience. Pleasant and thought-provoking, this comedy proves one more time that, contrary to conventional wisdom, Italian cinema is not dead.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Italy]

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

11 February 2011 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Salt of Life

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,176, 4 March 2012

Gross USA:

$317,405

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,850,852

Company Credits

Production Co:

BiBi Film, Isaria Productions, Rai Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1