[THE
SALT OF LIFE screens Friday
July 27th at 7:35 pm and Saturday July 28th at 5:15 pm at the
Cleveland Cinematheque.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
Early retirement isn't all it's cracked
up to be for 60 year old Gianni (Gianni Di Gregorio). His mother
(Valeria De Franciscis) thinks nothing of calling him on the phone
feigning illness just to get him to adjust the antenna on her TV set,
his wife (Elisabetta Piccolomini) barely acknowledges he exists, and
his daughter (Teresa Di Gregorio) is dating a loser (Michelangelo
Ciminale) she plans on dumping soon, but who for the meantime is
freeloading at Gianni's home. Gianni's lawyer friend (Alfonso
Santagata) suggests that he get out of his rut by taking up with a
mistress, but that proves easier said than done.
Di Gregorio, who also wrote and
directed THE SALT OF LIFE,
is a gifted comic actor with a deadpan style of acting similar to
Buster Keaton's. We probably shouldn't be on his character's side,
but his sad puppy dog looks and likability help mitigate his caddish
behavior to some degree. Besides, Gianni fails so spectacularly in
his efforts at adultery that it's not too hard to feel a little sorry
for the would-be philanderer.
