A man unexpectedly finds himself talking care of four women, three of whom he barely knows, in this sunny comedy from Italy. Gianni (Gianni di Gregorio) is a man in his mid-sixties who still lives with his mother; given that Valeria (Valeria De Franciscis) is well into her nineties, these days he looks after her rather than the other way around, though she remains quite spry given her age. Gianni and Valeria share an apartment in a building owned by Luigi (Alfonso Santagata); Gianni owes money
on the rent, and Luigi, who wants to take off for the midsummer festivities of Ferragosto, makes him a deal -- Luigi will forgive the debt if his elderly mother, Marina (Marina Cacciotti), can stay with Gianni and Valeria for a few days. Gianni grudgingly agrees, but is upset when he discovers Luigi has also brought his aging aunt Maria (Maria Calì). Word apparently circulates that Gianni is running an informal home for the elderly, as his friend Marcello (Marcello Ottolenghi) stops by and drops off his mother, Grazia (Grazia Cesarini Sforza), for a day or two. While Gianni scrambles to look after the various needs of four elderly women, it soon becomes clear the ladies have strongly differing views on a number of subjects, making his job all the more difficult. Pranzo di Ferragosto (aka Mid-August Lunch) was written and directed by Gianni di Gregorio, who also played the harried son; it was the first directorial project for the veteran screenwriter. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Mid-August Lunch is a sweet-spirited gem, warmly comic while showing the hassles of caring for aging relatives more honestly than 10 family sagas from Hollywood.
If Mid-August Lunch were a meal instead of a movie, it would be something light and quick, but not entirely unsatisfying. A green salad with a couple pieces of grilled shrimp on top, say.
The droll Mid-August is a tribute to the gentle skills of Italian filmmaker Gianni Di Gregorio, who not only wrote and directed this unhurried chamber piece but also starred in it as a character he named after himself.
[Di Gregorio] draws wonderfully unfussy performances from his nonprofessional cast and ... produces a film which feels so natural that it seems to be capturing real life
Not much happens in this wisp of a movie (it's barely 75 minutes), and not much is necessary; it's all about finding a mood and letting it sneak up and envelop the watcher.
In "Mid-August Lunch," middle-aged Gianni(Gianni Di Gregorio, who also directed and co-wrote) takes care of his mother(Valeria De Franciscis). This leaves him with precious little money to pay the bills, like the electric which has not been paid in three years. That's all right, says Alfonso(Alfonso Santagata), the
condominium administrator. If Gianni takes care of his mother(Marina Cacciotti) for the night, then he will look the other way on some of the late charges. So, what choice does Gianni have? If only Alfonso had also mentioned his aunt Maria(Maria Cali)...
While not what anybody would call substantial, "Mid-August Lunch" goes down easily enough as a droll and charming comedy of manners. One of the most important is to care for the elderly, but not treat them like children. Such lessons are learned on a slow-moving holiday whose rhythms are captured nicely by long takes while also getting some fine footage of Rome in the meantime.
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