Genova (film)
Encyclopedia
Genova is a film directed by Michael Winterbottom
and starring Colin Firth
, Catherine Keener
, and Hope Davis
. It was filmed in the titular city of Genoa
(Genova in Italian
) during the summer of 2007. It was written by Wonderland
screenwriter Laurence Coriat. It premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
and won the best director's award in the San Sebastián International Film Festival
.
about two American
girls and their British
father (Firth) who move to Italy
after their mother dies.
Following the death of his wife in a car accident, a college professor (Colin Firth) decides to teach English Literature at an Italian University in Genova. He is accompanied by his two daughters, aged 16 and 10. The trio occupy a flat in the crowded Genova streets and soon adapt to the local way of life, taking day trips to the beach and hiring an Italian tutor in musical composition.
The elder daughter begins secretly dating a local Italian teenager, surreptitiously making dates with him behind her father's back. The younger daughter remains close to her father, and still deals with painful memories of her mother's death. Herself a passenger in the car when her mother was killed she was directly responsible for the accident and remains haunted by her image.
The Professor, while enjoying life in Genova, has to deal with the demands of being a single parent while also balancing his re-emergent love life. One romantic interest is a colleague at the university (played by Catherine Keener) with whom he shared a brief romantic relationship back at Harvard when both were students. The colleague tries to get close to the family, helping with translation and their day-to-day needs in Genova, but crossing the thin line between good advice and intrusion in their private ways in the process. Another romantic interest is a young Italian student in the professor's literature class. She is brash and idealistic and quickly makes her intentions known to the suddenly single professor.
Matters come to a head one day when the professor makes a lunch date with the Italian student, simultaneously spurning his much older colleague. The eldest daughter gets into a fight with her Italian boyfriend and is forced to hitch a ride home from the beach. Meanwhile the youngest daughter is locked out of the flat due to the lateness of her older sister and instead follows an apparition of her late mother across a busy intersection, almost killing herself and causing yet another car crash, but luckily a minor one. The movie ends with the two daughters beginning their studies at a local Italian secondary school, eager to start a new chapter as a family, having already learned a great deal about family, love, and mourning, on the colourful streets of Genova.
, first used in La Nuit Americaine
. Étude No. 3 (Tristesse)
by Chopin recurs throughout.
. The film never opened in American theaters, and finally premiered there on DVD in April 2011, immediately after Firth's Oscar win, under the alternate title A Summer in Genoa.
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
and starring Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
, Catherine Keener
Catherine Keener
Catherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...
, and Hope Davis
Hope Davis
Hope Davis is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland....
. It was filmed in the titular city of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
(Genova in Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
) during the summer of 2007. It was written by Wonderland
Wonderland (1999 film)
Wonderland is a 1999 drama film about the lives of a London couple, their three adult daughters and absent son. Directed by Michael Winterbottom, the film stars Jack Shepherd, Kika Markham, Shirley Henderson, Gina McKee, Molly Parker, John Simm, and Stuart Townsend...
screenwriter Laurence Coriat. It premiered at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
2008 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008...
and won the best director's award in the San Sebastián International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
.
Plot
A romantic ghost storyGhost story
A ghost story may be any piece of fiction, or drama, or an account of an experience, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them. Colloquially, the term can refer to any kind of scary story. In a narrower sense, the ghost story has...
about two American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
girls and their British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
father (Firth) who move to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
after their mother dies.
Following the death of his wife in a car accident, a college professor (Colin Firth) decides to teach English Literature at an Italian University in Genova. He is accompanied by his two daughters, aged 16 and 10. The trio occupy a flat in the crowded Genova streets and soon adapt to the local way of life, taking day trips to the beach and hiring an Italian tutor in musical composition.
The elder daughter begins secretly dating a local Italian teenager, surreptitiously making dates with him behind her father's back. The younger daughter remains close to her father, and still deals with painful memories of her mother's death. Herself a passenger in the car when her mother was killed she was directly responsible for the accident and remains haunted by her image.
The Professor, while enjoying life in Genova, has to deal with the demands of being a single parent while also balancing his re-emergent love life. One romantic interest is a colleague at the university (played by Catherine Keener) with whom he shared a brief romantic relationship back at Harvard when both were students. The colleague tries to get close to the family, helping with translation and their day-to-day needs in Genova, but crossing the thin line between good advice and intrusion in their private ways in the process. Another romantic interest is a young Italian student in the professor's literature class. She is brash and idealistic and quickly makes her intentions known to the suddenly single professor.
Matters come to a head one day when the professor makes a lunch date with the Italian student, simultaneously spurning his much older colleague. The eldest daughter gets into a fight with her Italian boyfriend and is forced to hitch a ride home from the beach. Meanwhile the youngest daughter is locked out of the flat due to the lateness of her older sister and instead follows an apparition of her late mother across a busy intersection, almost killing herself and causing yet another car crash, but luckily a minor one. The movie ends with the two daughters beginning their studies at a local Italian secondary school, eager to start a new chapter as a family, having already learned a great deal about family, love, and mourning, on the colourful streets of Genova.
Cast
- Colin FirthColin FirthSirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
... Joe - Catherine KeenerCatherine KeenerCatherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...
... Barbara - Hope DavisHope DavisHope Davis is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland....
... Marianne - Willa HollandWilla HollandWilla Joanna Chance Holland is an American actress and fashion model. She is best known for her role as Kaitlin Cooper, Marissa Cooper's devious younger sister, on the television series The O.C.. She also appeared as Agnes Andrews on The CW series Gossip Girl...
... Kelly - Perla Haney-JardinePerla Haney-JardinePerla Haney-Jardine is an Brazilian-born American actress. She is best known for her role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as B.B., the four-year-old daughter of Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo and Bill.-Personal life:...
... Mary - Kyle Griffin... Scott
- Kerry ShaleKerry ShaleKerry Shale is a UK-based actor, writer and voice-over artist. He is married to Suzanne Shale, a former Oxford University law don, now a specialist in the field of medical ethics.-Theatre:...
... Stephen - Gherardo Crucitti... Mauro
- Margherita Romeo... Rosa
- Gary Wilmes... Danny
- Demetri GoritsasDemetri GoritsasDemetri Goritsas is a Canadian-American actor.From Greek and Norwegian parentage, Goritsas was born in Eugene, Oregon, USA, grew up in British Columbia and has lived his adult life in London. Goritsas was educated at Prince George Secondary School, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.Early in...
... Demetri - Alessandro Giuggioli... Lorenzo
Music
The theme used for the opening credits is the Le Grand Choral by Georges DelerueGeorges Delerue
Georges Delerue , was a French film composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. He won numerous important awards including Rome Prize , Emmy Award , Genie Award , ACE Award and Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979 for A...
, first used in La Nuit Americaine
Day for Night (film)
La Nuit Américaine is a 1973 French film directed by François Truffaut. It stars Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Pierre Léaud. In French, nuit américaine is a technical process whereby sequences filmed outdoors in daylight are underexposed to appear as if they are taking place at night...
. Étude No. 3 (Tristesse)
Étude Op. 10, No. 3 (Chopin)
Étude Op. 10 No. 3, in E major, is a study for solo piano composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1832. It was first published in 1833 in France, Germany, and England as the third piece of his Études Op. 10. This is a slow cantabile study for polyphonic and legato playing. Chopin himself believed the...
by Chopin recurs throughout.
Reception
The film was generally well-received. It holds a fresh rating of 79% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. The film never opened in American theaters, and finally premiered there on DVD in April 2011, immediately after Firth's Oscar win, under the alternate title A Summer in Genoa.