Mid-August Lunch takes place around the Italian holiday of Ferragosto, which is the equivalent of Labor Day. In the film, Gianni is a guy in his 60s who lives with his mother (a not-uncommon thing to find in Italy, apparently). On the weekend before the holiday, a neighbor in his apartment building comes to him to ask if he would look after the guy's elderly mother for the weekend, and in return that he would waive some of the money Gianni owes the building. Seeing this as a wise economic trade-off, Gianni agrees.
The next day the neighbor comes with his mother and an aunt. Now Gianni has three old women to take care of. A bit later in the day, he sees a doctor friend of his for a check-up. The doctor tells him he has to go out of town for the night and asks if Gianni could look after his mother too. Figuring one more woman won't be a problem, he agrees to this too. Now he has to look after four elderly women on one of the hottest days of the year in a rather small apartment.
This is not a particularly brilliant film, but it is really fun, wonderful and sweet. I really liked the lead actor, Gianni Di Gregorio, who also wrote and directed this (and also wrote Gomorrah from last year). He's a very normal guy who reacts to this situation in a very natural way.
I appreciate the smallness of the film and that it's a very tight story without any fancy tricks or elaborate set-ups. This is effectively a short-story turned into a movie. Di Gregorio wonderfully uses a hand-held camera throughout the film putting us right in the middle of the action with the crazy women and him in the tight quarters of the modest apartment. This is a small touch, but it's very important and smart. This totally adds tons to the intimacy of the story and dramatically helps our experience here.
Again, there is nothing here that is particularly deep, but it is very nice and enjoyable.
Stars: 3 of 4
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