Dad and I had tentatively planned on seeing several entries in a European showcase at AFI, but we put it off. Tonight was the last night, so we got the initiative just in time. To my slight surprise, Mom came too.
This is one of those rare stories to include flashbacks within flashbacks. In the "present" of 1980, Anna, who has lived mostly in Canada, finds herself and two acquaintances explaining a suspicious death to an Italian policeman. From one standpoint, her relevant story begins only nine days prior, when she sees fit to take her adoptive mother's ashes to the village of Puglia; from another, it starts in 1953, when Gauke, who would become her father, wanders from flooded Holland to Puglia. (Anna learns the story from her acquaintances only within those nine days.) Most of what we see is about Gauke's not-so-uneventful life as a tulip farmer in the area.
Oh, Gauke isn't a total fish out of water for long. He gets along fine with most of his neighbors, and his previously one-night lover, Ria, Anna's biological mom, moves in. The real conflict arises from his ignorance of the protection racket in the area. By paying another man's alleged debt, he gets the mafia's unwelcome attention. Good thing he's a hard-working man with more spit and vinegar than they give him credit for.
At several points, either Anna or the policeman interrupts the story to question its veracity. It certainly sounds like a tall tale from time to time, perhaps especially when Immacolata, the older woman, tells it. Vito, her son, who was a kid in the '50s, sometimes gets annoyed at her exaggerations and sometimes makes them himself. (Vito had found Ria beautiful and may now have a crush on Anna, but we never see anything come of it.) We do get evidence that at least one of the questionable claims is correct, but nothing conclusive.
Of course, the fact that Anna doesn't remember either of her blood parents indicates that the story has to take a few tragic turns. It's a level of comedy-drama I find a lot more often in European cinema than American (think Life Is Beautiful, for example). Don't worry; it ends on a high note for sure.
I'm not sure how best to describe the style of humor. It's partly tasteful and partly, well, arguably juvenile. Mom asked whether I'd ever seen a film place so much importance on flatulence; I had to think about it, but my answer is no. Still, I won't complain. It works in context.
My parents and I were all glad to have checked out Tulipani. The combination of levity and graphic beauty does a lot for moviegoers.
Actually, I believe Vito had ascertained Ria had room for him in her flat by the end... so we're left to think they were likely to continue as a couple.
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