GENOVA
The Story:
A young American mother Marianne (Hope Davis) is driving in winter when she suffers an accident which kills her. Left behind are husband Joe (Colin Firth) and two girls, 16-year-old Kelly (Willa Holland) and ten-year-old Mary (Perla Haney-Jardine).
Five months later, Joe accepts a year long teaching job in Genova (Italy) and moves there with his two daughters. The Italian city is also home to an old college friend Barbara (Catherine Keener) who helps them settle in but may also have thoughts of rekindling an old college crush on Joe.
As they adjust to life in a new city, Mary feels responsible for the accident and is haunted by nightmares.Barbara and Mary bond over local history, while Kelly,rapidly makes new friends, proving a hit with the local boys. Joe arranges for both girls to have piano lessons but, as he is teaching during the day, cannot be there to look after them. Tired of babysitting her little sister, Kelly often stomps off leaving Mary to her own devices and it is on one such occasion that Mary thinks she sees Marianne for the first time. .
With Joe distracted by both his new job and the attentions of an attractive student Rosa (Margherita Romeo) and Kelly enjoying la dolce vita, Mary is plagued by nightmares, but after this sighting she sees Marianne regularly and is comforted by the fact, though of course she doesn’t tell anyone. Barbara, however, proves sympathetic and Mary plucks up the courage to confide in her. In the meantime Kelly is spending more and more time with her new friends, to Joe’s concern; she is out every night and becoming more and more defiant, reacting with hostility to any rules.
Starring:
Colin Firth, Catherine Keener, Hope Davis, Willa Holland, Perla Heny-Jardine, Monica Bennati, Dante Ciari, Gherardo Crucitti, Alessandro Giuggioli, Demetri Goritsas, Kyle Griffin.
Directed By:
Michael Winterbottom
Release:
2009
Watch the Trailer:
