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Italiensk for Begyndere (Italian for Beginners)

Italiensk for Begyndere (Italian for Beginners) (2001)

tomatometer

88

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 84
Fresh: 74 | Rotten: 10

Unlike many romantic comedies, the charming Italian for Beginners feels natural and genuinely heart-warming.

89

Average Rating: 7.5/10
Critic Reviews: 28
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 3

Unlike many romantic comedies, the charming Italian for Beginners feels natural and genuinely heart-warming.

audience

75

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 5,926

My Rating

Movie Info

The Dogma 95 movement has seen some searing looks into the human condition but rarely a romantic comedy -- until now. Veteran Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig spins this deadpan look at a group of lovelorn outsiders living in a grey corner of Copenhagen. After the perennially foul-tempered minister of a local church is fired after doing great injury to the organist, Andreas moves to the area to take over the parish. Staying in a hotel until his predecessor can be wrested from the rectory, Andreas

R,

Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy

Lone Scherfig

Oct 15, 2002

$4.4M

Miramax Films - Official Site External Icon

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Cast

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All Critics (97) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (75) | Rotten (10) | DVD (12)

Scherfig, who has had a successful career in TV, tackles more than she can handle.

November 6, 2002 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An engaging Danish movie that rises from the ashes of loneliness and despair to spread feelings of happiness across the screen.

August 9, 2002
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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A rarity: a humane picture about modern romance among believable adults.

July 20, 2002 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
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[Scherfig] has made a movie that will leave you wondering about the characters' lives after the clever credits roll.

March 28, 2002
Orlando Sentinel
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The combination of lightness and strictness in this instance gives Italian for Beginners an amiable aimlessness that keeps it from seeming predictably formulaic.

March 13, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Observer
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

a lightweight story about matchmaking, the characters make it worth the journey.

June 24, 2011 Full Review Source: Old School Reviews

Romantic, often comic but certainly for grownups.

December 24, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

A rare delight ... a joyous comedy that is at the same time grounded in real life with characters whose company is a pleasure.

September 21, 2007
Looking Closer

At the core a sweet, enjoyable movie that even the most casual movie-goer would enjoy.

June 21, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Scouts
Film Scouts

All the more involving for its lack of obvious manipulation.

October 15, 2003 Full Review Source: About.com
About.com

An incredibly low-rent Danish film, it brings a group of people together in a sweet and charming way, if a little convenient

December 18, 2002 Full Review

This is a fine ensemble cast.

October 21, 2002 Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan
San Diego Metropolitan

Audience Reviews for Italiensk for Begyndere (Italian for Beginners)

A Danish film from 2001 billed as a "romantic comedy", Italian for Beginners is not really a comedy at all, but a nice introspective look into our hearts and minds, where all are looking for something and find it through and because of community.

Filmed in single camera style, this has that low budget indie look to it, with some very abrupt editing as scene after scene cuts to tell the stories of a group of charactors in a Danish town. Dispite the editing and film style the director does a very nice job of keeping your eye interested by subtle use of closeups - not necessarily of faces, but hand gestures and such.

What makes this film fly is earnest acting and a wonderful story that shows the viewer the many charactors and then weaves them together through not only a series of funerals, but an Italian class (hence the title). I felt that the way in which all the charators seemed to move in their own arcs and yet all came together was reminiscent of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, from a decade earlier.

What this film has going for it, is its honesty and the almost brutally naked way in which the charactors are portrayed - just real people, living real lives.

I can't really give a shout out to the actors - as it's often hard to get into nuance when you're reading subtitles - and I often found it surreal to be reading along and then realizing that the charactors had switched from speaking Danish, to speaking Italian (which they had learned in the class). However I will say that, while there are no big emotional scenes (except one which I will mention in just a bit), the lonliness and ofttimes dispair comes through easily.

There is a wonderful dramatic scene that speaks volumes about the heart of this film (and why it really isn't a comedy at all). The parish Vicar has recently lost his wife to cancer, and while he loses his parish, he is allowed to stay on and live in the vicary. When the new priest arrives, he cat calls through his sermon, saying that God is an abstraction.

When the new priest later confronts the old vicar, the old vicar states "God took my wife, and my wife took my God". A wounded soul if ever there was one - and the new priest can only respond that the vicar needs to move on with his life (assuming that God will right all wrongs, etc). This is all he can say, as he has recently lost his own wife - and FOUND God in the process - a contrast between light and dark, optimism and the abyss. Not the stuff of romantic comedy, is it?
November 7, 2010
maxthesax
paul sandberg

Super Reviewer

Sweet movie with some implausible, yet tolerable, coincidences. My first Dogme film and now I'm certainly more curious about the movement.
January 24, 2009
aliceinpunderland

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Italienisch für Anfänger (DE)
  • Italian For Beginners (UK)
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