From the very first glimpse of a rather grand Beatrice (Valerie Bruni Tedeschi) swooping through the grounds of the Villa Biondi clutching her parasol and dispensing instructions without a care in the world to everyone working away, you can sense that this is going to be a performance that should not be missed. However far from being the Lady of the Manor, Beatrice is actually one of the inmates of the mental institution that occupies the once sumptuous Tuscan villa for continually ignoring restraining orders that her big-time criminal ex-husband had taken out against her.
Beatrice is a wonderful fantasist and an extraordinarily creative pathological liar who has this deliciously funny way of littering her conversations with an endless stream of very impressive name dropping. She treats everyone at first as conspirators of her husband, then as her servants before dismissing them in a haughty aristocratic manner, and she keeps a distance from most of the other inmates.
That is until one day when there is a new addition to their community in the shape of a painfully thin, tattooed and scruffy Donatella (MiscaelaRamazzotti) who has been committed because she attempted suicide clutching her young son who the authorities wanted to take away from her. Despite the fact that she and Beatrice make an unlikely pair, the older woman takes a shine to the non-talkative new inmate and takes her under her wing.
Then one day some of the woman had been let out to work on a nearby farm and when the van coming to take them back to the Villa is late, Beatrice and Donatella hot-foot it onto a bus and head into a nearby town in search of an adventure. With the staff from the Villa in hot pursuit the two of them hit up a shopping mall, and then an elegant restaurant which they skip out of when the check comes, and then on to the nightclub where Donatella used to work before the owner got her pregnant and fired.
Somewhere along the way the women relieve a man of his car after Beatrice innocently accepted his offer of a drink where as Donatella knew that he wanted much more of them than that. Now as they drive away, the movie takes on a very distinct Thelma and Louise feel to it as they set off to try and track down the family who the Judge allowed to adopt Donatella’s son.
As the plot unfolds we are almost shocked to discover that there is actually a portion of Beatrice’s story that is true, and that she was in fact part of a local aristocratic family who are now somewhat impoverished after been conned by her criminal boyfriend. It gives Beatrice this fragility of someone who grew up never having to worry about mundane things such as money, and yet she still possess an innocence that gets her excited at the mere mention of anything nice happening. She may unnerve the Villa staff by mixing her meds too much and always seems to be marvelously vague and out of step with the rest of the world, but she still has the wherewithal to be able to take total control whenever she needs too.
Donatella on the other hand has had a rough time with both her divorced parents being so self-absorbed that her cries for help when the baby was to be taken away from her, fell totally on deaf ears. Although she seems more aware and worldly than Beatrice, it is her new friend who will end up taking charge of her situation to try and bring it to a happy conclusion.
Part madcap comedy, part crime caper and part melodrama all with a very beautifully script, this enchanting movie directed and co-written by Paolo Virzì has been rightly collecting a whole swathe of Awards all over Europe. It is not just a perfect vehicle to let Bruni Tedeschi give such a career-best performance , but it also highlights this remarkable chemistry she had with Ramazzotti (also Mrs Virzì).
Bruni Tedeschi just radiates in this role of the not-so innocent victim and the way she simply swans through life refusing to accept the way it has turned out. She is a sheer joy to watch …… as is Ramazzotti ….. but this is very much Bruni Tedeschi’s show to the very last frame.
Totally unmissable.
