User reviews

"Looking for Alibrandi" could be labeled as a teen-comedy, but the truth is that genre is rather connected with dumb cheerleaders and quarterbacks full of testosterone, so it would be quite unfair to put "LFA" into that bag, for this is a more serious movie, the characters are not complete idiots and the story deals with matters such as the pressure that parents put on their children when it's time for them to choose a career, or the immigration issue (the main characters are Italian that live in Australia).

In short: it's a kind movie that's been well filmed and with much more quality than the most of the sickly sweet Hollywood products such as "Never been kissed" and stuff.

*My rate: 6/10

Okay, so firstly this is a fine Australia film. What that means is that it is quirky, memorable, identifiable and just a great way to spend an hour or so. Don't expect big names, well outside of Australia, and don't expect guns, car chases, FX, or your typical Hollywood blaise. This film goes to prove that the simple story of a girl looking for who she is in the world, can still bring a tear to ones eye.

Secondly, for the ladies, if you are looking for a good "chick-flick" you can hardly go wrong. And for the lads, Pia epitamises the "girl next door" look.

Lastly, if you haven't experienced a good Aussie movie and don't fancy a youthful Mel Gibson, why not give this movie a go. I highly recommend it.

Growing up Italian in Australia can be pretty hard going. For 17 year old Josie Alibrandi it's even complicated when your plate is full of problems. Apart from surviving the hard studies at a private Catholic school, she also has to put up with the Queen beauty snob and her racist attitudes. On top of that there is the boy thing. To make things a little complicated, her long lost father, (who she never met before), shows up on the front door step. Plus there's more! Hidden secrets in the family tree. Wow! I wonder if this girl will ever survive this teenage angst thingy?

Yes, it's all part of the growing up pain as Josie welcomes Adulthood. Pia puts on a lovable performance as Josie. You can't help but fall prisoner for that cheeky smile of hers. She has plenty of faults and that is what makes her so human. Even the surrounding family and friends are not 100% perfect, giving them the emotional space to work in. And with a strong supportive cast in the Adult department meant that they were never stereotypical in another teenage film.

The main strong focal point of the film is Melina's script, which plays with certain important teenage issues. From teenage suicide, to parents neglecting their children and racial issues. This all created through a tone of verbal dialogue and Josie's narration. Converting the popular teenage Australian novel to the screen by Melina was a brave and acceptable effort. It was something that Australian teenagers needed since the Yanks had theirs 15 years ago with John Hughes' Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club and most notably, Pretty in Pink. Only nagging problem that seemed to bother the ear was the overabundance of smartalec one-liners Josie normally threw around when competing in verbal wars. One tends to feel that those lines belong in sitcoms, not feature films.

To help tell the story was Kate Woods' direction. She knew when to get playful and knew when it was time to pull back on the serious issues. It all felt like an emotional roller coaster ride through the heart and mind Josie was carrying around. And yes, I admit to certain times being close to tears. I believe with a strong script, Woods may be the next Gillian Armstrong or Jocelyn Moorehouse.

My only concern is that this film came out 15 years too late. Anytime before the mid-Eighties, this film would have been far more interesting. Being from an Italian background, the events in the film that deal with the Italian culture in Australia seemed a little outdated. But at last I got to see how it really was when I was growing up. And it meant a lot to me in the most silliest and simple ways!

A film treatment of a well-loved ( despite being prescribed school reading) children's story is always a delicate matter but here the makers have captured most of the spirit of the original, possibly helped by the fact that Melina Marchetta, the original author, also wrote the screenplay. Josie is the daughter of a single mother of Sicilian background who attends an exclusive Catholic girls' school on a scholarship. Her father, who she has never known, turns up out of the blue as a successful lawyer and she and her mother both have to cope with this not entirely welcome event. Josie, being 17, is also interested in boys, two in particular. One is a nice but insecure kid from the establishment, the other, self –confident and sexy, from a single parent home on the other side of the tracks. Also in the story is Josie's Nona (Grandma), long widowed after a loveless marriage, who lives nearby and keeps a close check on Josie's doings. Josie's occasional voice-overs and her lapses into fantasy give the film a slightly Adrian Mole-ish atmosphere, but Josie's family and friends are not grotesque, just human.

Women who haven't had a father while growing up are supposed to find it more difficult to handle adult males and Josie has to learn to deal with a father and boyfriends at the same time. She also has to handle to snobbery at school, not to mention the burden of the dreaded HSC exam in her final year. She is aiming high (law at a prestigious university) so that she can escape from little Italy and the annual tomato sauce bottling. She learns, of course, that you cannot escape from what made you, you can only make it work for you. As in real life, nothing quite works out according to plan, but at the end she's a year older and wiser.

It's Pia Miranda's film. Her Josie is assertive, vulnerable and warm. A raft of good supporting actors back her up. Greta Scacchi, often cast as a sex bomb, is a blowsy but loving Mum. Anthony La Paglia is a bit of a stock character as the new-found father but has a couple of good scenes. Elena Cotta as Nono and Matthew Newton and Kick Gurry as the silvertail and rough trade boyfriends also do good work. Kerry Walker, so often cast as a female monster, puts in a restrained performance as a firm but sympathetic schoolteacher. I also liked Josie's two girlfriends Anna and Sara, the 'wog chicks' in the old Merc, and their no-holds barred approach to enjoying life despite the HSC and demanding parents. Sydney city vistas are also used to good effect – the bridges, the harbour, Bondi Beach, and there was even a school debate in the foyer of the Opera Theatre. It was nice to get away from the grunge Sydney seen in 'Two Hands' etc.

I noticed that though I could hardly be described as being in the target audience for this film I was smiling most of the way through and emerged from the cinema with a reasonably cheerful feeling. It's not a particularly dramatic story but it's easy to warm to the characters. A film adaption that works, it seems.

Reading the book 'Looking For AliBrandi' in high school was a much readable and enjoyable experience. I was expecting the movie to cover the book completely but instead it cut out parts of the book that were interesting and completed the book well. It turned scenes back to front and switched things around making the movie confusing and hard to understand. I didn't enjoy the movie at but I definitely recommend ALL to read the book. It's MUCH BETTER!

"Looking For Alibrandi" is a great film. It shows what impact culture and family background can have on an Australian girl learning about the world. The movie also points out how important family values are to children growing up in todays society. One characters teenage suicide was an awful example of how the interests of young minds should be respected and the fact that the youth of today should be able to decide on their own futures with the full attention and best wishes of parents. Alot happens in the mind of a teenager, especially in their final year of high-school. Their thoughts and emotions should always be listened to and cared for.

I think that this movie is finally something of Australian quality, instead of having over exaggerated accents and some fake adaption of Australia. It shows the ethnicity that is happening in Australia, and the trials and tribulations of growing up through the eyes of Josephine Alibrandi. I thought Pia Miranda did an excellent job, and her parents Greta Schaaci and Anthony LaPaglia were excellent as well.

Being only 16 i don't think that I am able to comment on the film's technical qualities or on it's relationship with the novel; I've never read it. What I can say is that Looking for Alibrandi is a wonderful movie. Australian's have finally made a truly excellent teen movie and we have beat the American's at their own game. This was a true breath of fresh air from the typical American high school movie filled with jocks, nerds and cheerleaders. For once the heroine does not win the boy by changing her hairstyle or clothes. Pia Miranda is increadible as Josie Alibrandi and plays her role almost flawlessly, she steals the entire show. Josie has the right mix of strength and vulnerability and shows herself to be a fantastic role model for young girls. Miranda is supported by an equally talented cast who all perform excellently. Kick Gurry (Jacob) and Matthew Newton (John) are outstanding in their roles, as are the entire Alibrandi/Andretti family. It also has to be said that the movie's handling of the issue of teen suicide was mature and eye-opening, thank-you for not lecturing us. Looking for Alibrandi is a story about life, love and finding yourself and it is a credit to all those involved in it.

Pia Miranda is a a great lead and such a likeable character. The movie depicts family dynamic LD and showcases the true Italian culture and traditions.

I saw "Looking for Alibrandi" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Down Under Film Fest.

We so rarely get to see glimpses of Australia's ethnic immigrant communities. With shades of "Household Saints" and "Moonstruck" here's a coming-of-age movie set in Sydney's Little Italy.

The pluses and minuses of being a high school senior in a close-knit family and community are warmly and hilariously portrayed visually. (How do they keep their young 'uns at school and work when the beach laps practically onto the city streets?)

Co-star Anthony LaPaglia (as a very non-stereotypical Italian father), who did a "Q & A" after the movie, felt the Italian community portrayal accurately reflected his experiences growing up in Adelaide.

Faithfully based on a popular "Young Adult" novel (with a few plot changes), its lack of clichés about family and dating was refreshing -- the just out of reach Golden Boy is tormented by his own demons; the seductive Bad Boy is no lout, but captain of the opposing school's debate team with his own vulnerability issues.

The "curse" on the women in the family is quite touching and realistic, without simple Hollywood solutions.

While the Ozzies in the audience caught more of the jokes faster as the slang and native references kept the Americans dependent on context, do watch out to see this delightful movie where ever you can.

(originally written 10/7/2001)

I was looking forward to viewing this promising new Australian movie, yet I was disappointed at its lack of depth of emotion, and film style.

The story, once a novel, is well written and warming, and the father-daughter relationship is quite touching, yet I felt that some of the strongest emotions were only lightly dismissed.

The film is visually quite colourful, and has a slight Australian teen soap feel to it.

I recommend that you see this film, if only once, for the story at least.

I don't usually like "love stories" but having read the book and having enjoyed the book, I went along to this movie. Being an Aussie movie was also a highlight for me because I am used to trashy American sop stories. I knew this movie was good because even the meanest movie reveiwers enjoyed it. I came out of it and felt like jumping with joy because FINALLY some movie makers had made a realistic "love tale"!

The fact that the movie also deals with racism, and all those other "isms" (ageism, sexism and so on) raised it up a notch for me. It was THE best Aussie movie I saw that year and probably even just the best movie.

I don't know if everyone would enjoy it, but I think most people would get something out of it.

the book the film was based on, by Melina Marchetta, is the 'most stolen book' in Australian school libraries, and not without reason. the book can be related to by all teenagers, and not only those living in Australia but internationally as well. the movie is one of the better book-to-screen adaptions in a long while. it manages to convey the emotions and ideas that the book is about, and does this in a way that can be empathised with. brilliant acting all round, especially from the very well cast Anthony Lapaglia. a great film to watch on many levels.

It was refreshing to see a movie about a teenaged girl where I didn't know exactly what was going to happen at the end. It kept surprising me which is usually hard to do with this kind of film. The characters were also realistic which is also something you don't see to often these days.

I *really* thought that the movie version of Looking for Alibrandi was good. Although I agree with the opinion that the book was a lot better and that some of the best scenes weren't included in the movie and that the scenes were rather out of order, I found that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I saw it first when it came out in the cinemas and again on Showtime recently and I couldn't help but appreciate the way the characters were portrayed in the film--especially Nonna.

The music used in the film gave the film a more textured flavour, especially during the scene with the...uh (how can I say it without spoiling people)...the uh, procession. The song ("With or Without You" by U2) just expressed everything that wasn't said.

The movie was great, and the tension between Josie and Nonna was done with a humorous sort of...uncomfortability. You just don't get that from words printed on paper.

Read the book, watch the movie. If you like slightly dramatic, slightly romantic, slightly comedic movies, then this is the movie for you. Besides, the storyline is great.

This was an amazing movie, correctly portraying what goes through the mind of a teenage girl. It also deals with issues that many teens have to deal with such as death and dealing with your parents and relationships with boys etc. This movie was a great light-hearted film that should win an award just for the fact that the thoughts that went through Josie's head were just what go through say my 16 year old head! if you haven't seen this movie you MUST!

My faith in films made from books has declined somewhat in the past few years and this is an example of why. Although Marchetti wrote the screenplay, some of the most important things lost their meaning. The film was a mere pastiche of the book. Obviously time constraints meant that they couldn't film the whole book but I thought that certain things could have retained some adherence to Josie's insecurity about her ethnicity and illegitimacy. As a film it was great, but people who loved the book will probably be disappointed.

The story of this film is very amazing in the way, upon seeing the story, one can relate to its meaning in many ways. I have, and in doing so, it has changed my life in ways on how I see myself, others and loved ones....I read the book and I think that the screenplay works quite successfully in displaying the meanings and emotions of Josephine, her mother, her grandmother, her "new" father and her boyfriend and her friends..

Theres something in "Looking For Alibrandi" for all of us..Believe me...see it for yourself and discover!!

This is a great movie and Melina Marchetta is a great author. She is one of the few authors who can right teenage novels without being patronizing. The movie is more than just a boy meets girl chick flick. Its funny and sad and sooooo true about when guys come to girls schools- it happens every wednesday at my school. This is a great movie. I recommend it for everyone and give it 5 out 5 stars.

"Looking for Alibrandi" was a great success in Australia. I'm not sure why. Was its success manufactured by the Australian press? Was it that Australian teenagers felt the film spoke to them, personally? It doesn't really matter: either alternative is depressing.

Maybe I just wasn't prepared to be charitable. The opening volley of first-person narration put me in a sour mood from which I never really emerged - partly because there was a second volley after the first, and a third, and a fourth - in short, WHENEVER director Kate Woods could think of nothing better to do, which was often, Pia Miranda's voice over cut across the soundtrack like a close-miked violin. It's a clumsy device. Instead of bringing us closer to Josie it actually distances us. When will directors and screenwriters get the idea? First-person narration cannot go far wrong as a literary device, and it can raise a book to heights the author could not otherwise have reached - "Great Expectations" is a good example of the magic spell a first-person narrator can cast. But it's usually a DISASTROUS device in a film. It's disastrous here. -And, not content with over-using the first-person voice over, Woods also over-uses the SECOND clumsiest cliché of film: the pop song interlude. Gargh.

There are fleeting moments - a moment of silent communication between Josie and her father in the headmaster's office, a wounding remark made by Josie's boyfriend - in which the film springs to life, promising to cast off its first-person cocoon and take flight. At such moments I WANTED the film to become good. I really did. My hopes were always dashed. (Usually within seconds, I might add.)

The trouble with "Looking for Alibrandi" is that one can smell the very pages of the book on which it was based. I haven't read the book, but I know the type. It's one of those ghastly "young adult" novels. I think I could have felt the prose even without hearing it: glib, scientifically crafted to meet the carefully researched needs of a particular age group, careless of the concerns of those who lie outside that age group by so much as a month. Books of this kind have not so much a story as a synthetic tom-tom beat of Relevant Issues. Their absence of aesthetic merit is so complete it must be deliberate. And they are oh, so insular. In the entire history of mankind, has there ever been, or will there ever be, a "young adult" novel that's also a good book? Hah. -Oh, there may be good books that are by and large READ by teenagers, like "The Lord of the Rings". That book attracted a teenage audience by accident. "Looking for Alibrandi" attracted a teenage audience by design. The difference is crucial.

As I say, I haven't read the book. I could be wrong about it, and I apologise to Melina Marchetta if I am. I don't apologise to the film, though: it's exactly the kind of thing you'd expect to be based on the kind of book I think it's based on.

This is a fabulous portrait of an ethnic family living in Australia, with its fair share of problems, secrets and taboos, tied to its ethnic background, culture and community within the framework of Australian society.

It is viewed through the eyes of the youngest member of the family, Josie Alibrandi (Pia Miranda) and the focus of the film is really on her. She is the binding force and this makes the film rely heavily on how convincingly she plays the role.

All the actors filled their roles beautifully in this film and with great conviction and lack of pretence, however, Pia Miranda's portrayal is so natural and unpretentious and so real that one comes out feeling as if she's the girl next door who you've known for a long time.

Indeed, in the end, you feel like you're looking at moments in the lives of your neighbours and where I live, in Fremantle, Western Australia (having a very large community of Italian Australians), that could well be.

It celebrates the people that make up Australian society as coming from varied backgrounds and cultures, although it is specific to the Italian community and interaction with Anglo-Saxon Australians.

The honesty of the film is very striking and very often, there is an odd feeling of looking at oneself and many things that one has done oneself. So in a way, people are often laughing at themselves or their own experiences throughout the movie.

There is never a dull or slow moment either and it is interspersed with very clever flashes to Josie's imaginings which give the audience an even better view into the character and her thoughts which are so typical of our own. The story is full of drama, sadness, humour and romance and the film is uncomplicated and very beautifully acted in all roles. I loved it!

Josie Alibrandi has alot to deal with right now. She's 17, got the dreaded H.S.C. in front of her and the boy of her dreams seems out of reach. Then there's that other problem. She's a wog. Sure it's where Josie comes from but it's not where she feels she belongs. In fact, Josie doesn't know where she belongs. With her Nonna in one ear talking about the old country and the stuck up girls at her school telling her she's an outsider, it's no wonder. This year however, everything is going to change. Josie will let loose, face her fears, uncover secrets - even discover the true identity of her father. It's going to be a year when Josie finally finds out where she belongs.

I loved this Aussie flick. This is based on the best selling novel by Melissa Marchetta and was wonderful, brought to the big screen. Looking For Alibrandi tells the coming of age story of an Italian-Australian girl who lives with her single mother in Glebe, in Sydney. Down the road from her overhearing grandmother and other relatives. On her journey, Josie faces her adolsence, isolation (going to a private school in North Sydney) and heartache after her first real experience with boys and meeting her father.

I loved the lead role by Pia Miranda. Her character Josie, certainly took the audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride. The relationships that she has really makes the film. Her life is so sad, but she rides through the rough times and everything works out alright.

The tension that exist between her family is extremely hard on Josie. Her Italian background is something that she really dispises. Then she also has to deal with the fact that she has no father at home, when all of her school friends (and enemies too) do and use it to their advantage to get along in life. At the start she was scared of her father, but with a little help and trust, Josie eventually respects her father and hopes to keep having a relationship with him.

Josie also wants to find the man of her dream, but struggles to ever find him. This is where the other stand out performance were in Looking For Alibrandi. Firstly by Matthew Newton as the boy of Josie's dreams. His career is in front of him. I loved his character John Barton. The relationship between Josie and John was so fascinating. Newton's part in the film is simiar to the character of Neil Perry, (played by Robert Sean Leonard in Dead Poets Society). The pressure placed on John in life by his parents and the outside world was so great. The film handles his choice in life so dramatically, that it will take you by surprise. It had that effect on me and changed the whole story around. Then we have Jacob and Josie. Jacob was played by Pia Miranda's real life friend Kick Gurry. The movie shows them to be such opposites, yet also shows that they are meant to be. They have many fights and don't look like a good couple, but eventually things work out for the best.

All in all, I can understand what it would be like to have pressure placed on you in a traditonal family. This film definitely shows it. But also shows that you are who are, cause you want to be, not for anyone else but yourself. It shows that freedom is all that anyone wants, even if they are struggling to ever find it.

This is one great Aussie film that I highly recommend to the young or the old. Well Done

Rating: 8.5/10 or 4 out of 5 Stars.