Bread and Tulips

Needing dinner after arriving at her pensione (bed and breakfast) she goes to a ...tratoria (family style restaurant) and meets Fernando, the waiter, played by the fine German actor, Bruno Ganz, whom some viewers may have seen in Wim Wenders wonderful films. Rosalba is short of cash and ends up staying with Fernando in his apartment.

Rosalba senses the loneliness and sadness in Fernando, he has a noose to hang himself hidden under his bed, and she does her best to cheer him up and she does this by making his dingy apartment an attractive place to live.

Rosalba soon finds work with an eccentric florist and decides to stay with Fernando. She is a warm, attractive woman who makes life better for everyone she meets. She seems in no hurry to go home to her family.

Her husband decides to send a plumber, who has come looking for work, to Venice to find his wife. This subplot adds much humor to the story. Each of the characters has some unique quality which makes them memorable. Rosalba is so warm and friendly that everyone who meets her likes her and wants to help her. She may not be needed by her family, but she quickly becomes important to her small circle of friends in Venice.

What makes this film special is first the performances, which are first-rate, Licia Maglietta as Rosalba is wonderful. She is just the sort of person we would like to know. She is warm, friendly, genuinely interested in others, and talented. All the supporting players are drawn to her and are better for knowing her.

Bruno Ganz as Fernando is wearied by all the dashed hopes and disappointments of his life, which may have gotten the better of him had he not met Rosalba. He is the moon, dark and brooding, to Rosalba's sun.

The story is well directed and well told. Enough quirky and unusual characters come on the scene to keep our interest high. Clearly the director wants to show us Italians as they really are, not so much descendants of the Romans as a pompous tour guide suggests, but silly and flawed like the rest of us. Rosalba, a seemingly ordinary housewife, is the best of the Italians and the best is plenty good enough.


DATE FILM ALERT: charming love story in a beautiful setting   July 25, 2003
audrey_the_librarian (boston ma united states)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful

Licia Maglietta as the middle-aged under-appreciated housewife Rosalba and Bruno Ganz as the suicidal poet and restauranteur Fernando are both charming in this tale of mature love in Venice. When she is accidentally left at a rest stop during a bus tour with her family, Rosalba decides to have an adventure and see Venice. As usual in this film genre, she meets quirky people and has small but magical things happen. These are films that depict characters undergoing growth and transformation, and while the details and ending depend on the director's temperament, the film's success depends on the actors' ability. In the case of Bread & Tulips, an optimistic outlook and a fine cast make this a fun and charming film, perfect for a date where you want to say "Love can be quite nice". (Unlike a first dinner/date I had where the guy brought over John Hurt in the bleak and violent "1984". Very short relationship.) The emphasis here is on growth rather than transformation, since Maglietta is so beautiful and joyful that she can't be 100% believable as the bored and boring frumpy housewife.

Perhaps you remember Bruno Ganz from Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire? This is a less divine role for the charismatic Ganz, but here he speaks beautiful Italian, recites poetry and eventually twinkles his eye at the lovely lady in distress. Though when they meet he has been contemplating suicide, this aspect of the film is neither overemphasized nor played for laughs.

There is a sizeable cast, and every one is very good. There are quite a few lovely exterior shots in Venice and the music is fine, though you will not be humming any tunes the next day.

Optional English subtitles, and trailers for Bread & Tulips, The Luzhin Defence and House of Mirth are the only added features on the disk.


A Warm Perspective on Life   July 21, 2002
Reviewer
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

This film is a journey of discovery and self-awareness, a story about life and love and finding the true happiness that comes from sharing it all "with" someone, rather than merely settling for sharing "in" someone else's. Mostly, though, "Bread and Tulips," directed by Silvio Soldini, is about finding the kind of love that enfolds you, lifts you up and boldly takes you with it, in place of the kind that simply allows you to catch hold and follow along. It's about possibilities; of realizing the fulfillment of the promise instead of forever existing in the shadow of the potential, of recognizing what can be and embracing it once it's found-- a consideration that love in the purest sense does exist, and often in the least likely of places. It's just a matter of opening the heart, and finding it.

Rosalba Barletta (Licia Maglietta) is content with her life, or so it would seem; she's a housewife with two sons-- aged sixteen and eighteen-- and a husband, Mimmo (Antonio Catania), who sells bathroom fixtures. Her contentment, though, is perhaps due to the fact that she's never considered the possibility of anything being otherwise. But that changes when, while on vacation with the family, she is inadvertently left behind at a stop. She watches the tour bus pull away and suddenly realizes that her husband and boys haven't even missed her.

She decides to hitchhike home, but on the way, she decides to take a vacation of her own first. One of her rides is headed to Venice, a city to which she has never been but always wanted to go, and so she makes that her destination. And her vacation soon becomes more than that; it becomes an experience that opens up a whole new perspective on life to her, an adventure that reawakens her senses and fills her with an appreciation of life and what love really is. There is bad with the good, however, as it also makes her a woman torn between her old life with the family she loves but who take her for granted, and a new life, in which real love and personal fulfillment is possible. Whatever she decides, one thing is certain: This is one vacation Rosalba is never going to forget.

Director Soldini has crafted and delivered an engaging and thoroughly involving and thoughtful film that grabs hold of the viewer and sweeps you along with it. It's funny, romantic and poignant, with a pure joy for life at it's heart; a romantic film in every sense of the word. Soldini tells Rosalba's story in a way that makes you more than a mere observer, but one who is sharing her life and all that she is feeling. Rosalba is someone you care about, and it's because Soldini has taken great care in attempting to establish that necessary connection between his character and the audience-- and he succeeds. He sets a perfect pace, in that Rosalba's growth and awareness is gradual, the product of subtle exploration rather than epiphany, which makes all that transpires entirely credible. And in the same way, it serves the credibility of the other characters, as well. It's a very grounded presentation that gives the sense of everything happening in real time; Soldini never allows the story to get ahead of itself, and that's part of the bond he's created that allows the audience to keep living it rather than just watching.

The insightful screenplay by Soldini and Doriana Leondeff makes for an engaging film to begin with, but without question, what really sells it is the wonderful performance by Licia Maglietta as Rosalba. Honest and earthy, her portrayal is entirely convincing and believable; she opens up her character and lets you in, where you discover an inner beauty that is vibrant and endearing. And you realize how much Rosalba has to give, and how much she wants to give-- and it's a touching experience; this is a woman who receives by giving, and it's gratifying to encounter that kind of charity of soul, and moreover, to see it rewarded in kind. Most importantly, Maglietta's performance inspires a greater understanding of the human condition; by experiencing the rewards of discovering who Rosalba really is, one may be inclined thereafter to look deeper into others, to reflect upon the nature of those perhaps taken for granted for too long. And the fact that such an impact can be made through a character in a film attests to the talent and ability of Maglietta, who-- something of a cross between Sophia Loren and Giulietta Masina-- has an absorbing screen presence, and plays Rosalba so beautifully.

Bruno Ganz also gives a memorable performance as Fernando Girasoli, the man who befriends Rosalba in Venice. His portrayal is so subtle and understated, and so giving, in that he allows the focus to remain on Rosalba at all times, that the full impact of his character kind of sneaks up on you. The initial meeting between Rosalba and Fernando is so indifferent that he at first appears to be nothing more than a peripheral character in the drama. And it demonstrates how wonderfully Soldini and his actors have integrated the characters with the story to make it play out in such real terms. It's an affecting performance by Ganz, who sparks an unlikely chemistry with Maglietta that works so well on the screen.

Also turning in performances worthy of mention are Marina Massironi, as Rosalba's friend, Grazia, the holistic beautician/masseuse; and Giuseppe Battiston, as Costantino, the hapless plumber/detective.

The supporting cast includes Felice Andreasi (Fermo), Tiziano Cucchiarelli (Nic), Matteo Febo (Salvo), Tatiana Lepore (Adele) and Vitalba Andrea (Ketty). Highly entertaining and thoroughly involving on a very personal level, "Bread and Tulips" is a film that provides an unforgettable emotional experience; one that promotes a deeper understanding of human nature by allowing you to get outside of yourself, which ultimately affords a fresh perspective on life and the way we live it.


Delightful   September 21, 2001
12 out of 16 found this review helpful

A delightful, "feel good" experience is Bread and Tulips. In a time of anguish, sadness and concern after the events of 11 September 2001, the viewing public could not do better than to drag themselves away from the TV and spend a couple of hours cleansing their soles in this therapeutic, wonderfully Italian tale of true happiness.