an adorable Italian movie : "Le déjeuner du 15 août" by Gianni di Gregorio

One of the many blogs I read regularly and truly enjoy is the blog of Eve Mongin, a French lawyer based in Perugia (Italy). She writes about aspects of Italian society, and political and cultural issues. When I read her posts, I often find similarities between Italian and Spanish society. Last week, she mentioned a new Italian movie called Le déjeuner du 15 août (the lunch on august 15th). Directed by Gianni di Gregorio, the movie tells about a 50 year old man, Gianni who lives with his old mother and looks after her. He does the shopping, cleans the apartment, does the cooking and never loses the opportunity to drink a glass of white wine. They both live in a big apartment in the center of Rome but for lack of money, Gianni haven't paid the charges for many years. The managing agent of the building, Alfonso proposes a deal to Gianni : if he takes care of his mother during the week end of august 15th, then he will erase his debt. Gianni accepts but when the day came, Alfonso not only brings his mother but also his aunt. Gianni who doesn’t feel too well, sends for the doctor who also asks him a similar favor in exchange of the consultation fees. So, in the end Gianni has to look after four little old women who fight for the TV programs, are reluctant to follow their strict diet and require Gianni’s constant attention.

The movie was shot in the director's own apartment in the Trastevere district in Rome and is actually inspired from his own life. Gianni di Gregorio had to look after his aged mother and lived with her for some time. In 2000, during the summer, the managing agent of the building who knew Gianni had debts and couldn’t pay the charges proposed him to look after his own mother in exchange of paying the charges. But the director declined the offer and with time passing by, decided to make a movie out of it. The four charming old ladies are non professional actresses and you can tell they really enjoyed their experience. Gregorio said that he'd been looking in vain for the right actor to act as the protagonist. As he was explaining to the team that he was looking for a mature man, more or less alcoholic and having lived with his mother for many years, everybody’s eyes were on him.

the director and main actor of the movie, Gianni di Gregorio

I only saw a few excerpts of the movie and I hope with a bit of luck the movie will be distributed in Spain.

One of the many similarities between Spanish and Italian society is the importance of the family bonds. It is not rare at all, at least in Andalusia, for a family to live with the grand parents. Even if cohabitation might prove difficult at times, family ties are very strong. When I settled in southern Spain, I found it very touching that young children are often looked after by their grandparents, when parents are at work or busy.

Gianni di Gregorio admits having been shaken by his own experience but he also adds: "I discovered and loved the richness, vitality and strength of the old people universe. But I've also witnessed their solitude and vulnerability in a world which goes too fast without knowing where it’s heading to, forgets about its history and loses the sense of continuity of time, which fears old age and death and doesn’t understand that the value of things is related to the quality of our feelings".

You can see excerpts of Le déjeuner du 15 août here, in the original version. Enjoy !