THE HEART ELSEWHERE
Official Selection Cannes International Film Festival 2003
Italian Academy Award David di Donatello Best Director 2003 (Pupi Avati)
The Heart Elsewhere is a stunning combination of robust comedy and nostalgic romance that carries us back through the decades to the vibrant and provocative Italy of the twenties.
Nello is awkward, bookish, in his mid-thirties and still a virgin; as such, his family has begun to worry whether he will ever marry and give them an heir. His womanizing father, a revered Roman tailor who has dressed three Popes, is not content to leave things to fate: he dispatches the unpromising Nello to Bologna under the pretense of working as a school teacher, but with the real hope that his son will find a woman within that city's more liberal environs. Nello soon discovers he has great flair as a teacher. His success in romance, however, will be slower and more risky.
After many failed attempts to find love, Nello is taken to a social dance in a home for blind women. There he meets Angela, the stunningly beautiful young daughter of one of the city's richest families. The cause of her blindness is only one of her mysteries; she is sexy and charismatic and Nello is soon completely enamoured. In truth, the blind femme fatale has the unassuming Nello in her sights.
Vanessa Incontrada is thrilling as the temptress whose passion and devotion will reverse on a whim. Italian singer Nino D'Angelo and the inimitable Giancarlo Giannini lend their limitless comedic talent to the roles of Nello's roguish roommate and disapproving father. Best of all, well-known Italian comedian Neri Marcorè soars with his inspired portrayal of Nello: part modern noir hero, part downtrodden everyman, he is entirely endearing. His portrayal is a perfect fit with the film's invigorating mix of pathos and humour, realism and poignancy. The Heart Elsewhere is another masterful work from accomplished filmmaker Pupi Avati atmospheric, sophisticated and classically romantic.
Piers Handling, Toronto Film Festival
Directed by Pupi Avati
Starring Neri Marcorè, Vanessa Incontrada, Sandra Milo, Giulio Bosetti, Giancarlo Giannini
Drama-Romance / 2003 / 106 minutes / rating PG