ITALIENSK FOR BEGYNDERE (Italian for Beginners, 2000) *** Italian for beginners, love for beginners, getting fired for beginners, screaming pain for beginners--there's always something starting and stopping. That's about all the metaphor that you're going to get from Dogme95 director Lone Scherfig, after that you have to settle for appealingly flawed (real) characters, meaningful dialogue, and provocative situations that seem to stammer as they speak. There are not, in other words, any explosions or car chases. There are not any actors grandstanding for the (here, hand held) cameras. There is no focus, but contemplations tend to be darker and dominated by stupidity, cruelty, and death. All the better to see the light by, my dear. Several situations are funny despite themselves, a knowing wink at that part of the universe that winks at us when we make the mistake of thinking that it can't get better. Got ya! None of it is unnecessarily oppressive, and they do open the window shades a little bit at the end. There's still no one on screen that you'll envy, but they're having fun within their limitations anyway, and somewhere in there is an invisible arrow pointing to the point (woe onto ye who think that existentialist dramas don't have a point).
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