The Etruscan Smile

Saw this at the Reel Canadian Film Festival in Fernie, BC in January 2019. (The screenplay is by Canadian director, Michael McGowan). The audience loved it.

The cinematography and set direction are superb, the acting is lovely and the pacing is great. The character development is complex and layered; the relationships really develop over time.

Suspend your disbelief a little of the why anyone from Scotland would travel to the US for medical treatment without a referral or a real diagnosis. The book that the story is based on is set in Italy, and has the protagonist move from rural Italy to Milan, which makes a lot more sense. To have had Rory move from Lewis to Glasgow or even London, or from rural USA to San Francisco, would have been an easier sell, but then there wouldn't have been the transatlatic appeal or all the wonderful notes from the Highlands of Scotland.

There's a few other plot holes you'll need to get over too, but this isn't meant to be a a serious study. It's a lovely warm romantic comedy-drama gem that will make you leave the theatre smiling and wanting to spend more time with the people you love.