Ah, the last day of the festival. I was really sorry to see the 11 days end; it was great seeing so many movies and to meet so many other movie fans.

The closing gala was Io sono l’amore (I Am Love). I didn’t know what to expect, seeing as it starred Tilda Swinton but was about a rich Italian family and the changes wrought on them over a year following the patriarch’s death. I brought my sister, who summed the film up brilliantly afterwards:

In this she (Tilda Swinton) was a Russian who’d been living in Italy for 25 years, married to a business magnate but the romance has died.  She has three grown up kids.  So the daughter becomes a lesbian, the younger son is ignored, her eldest son (the favourite) inherits the business but isn’t really cut out for it, and her marriage is fizzling out.  She lives in this big huge villa near Milan.  So she starts an affair with her son’s friend, achef who runs a restaurant and grows vegetables – cue lots of nudity.
The End.
It was quite good.  In Italian, subtitled.

I have to say that it was better than “quite good” – quite a bit better. Everything looks gorgeous, the camera-work is stunning and Jil Sander and Fendi did the clothes. What more can I say about that!
Tilda Swinton has immaculate Italian – between her and Kristin Scott Thomas, I am now totally demoralised about my bad Leaving Cert French! She completely immerses herself in the role of an unhappy woman who’s heading for middle-age but is unwilling to settle for what life has given her. The theme of the film is “change” – and nearly all of the characters undergo a dramatic transformation as the film progresses.

Luca Guadagnino has created a captivating film about love, taking risks and following your heart. It’s going to stay with me for a long time – rather like this year’s festival, which has been a great experience. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the last 11 days and can’t wait for JDIFF 2011 already.

Thanks to everyone involved in JDIFF and see you all next year!

Eilis Mernagh

P.S. I’m going to do a shameless plug for my own blog, where I witter about movies all year long: http://eilistalkingmovies.blogspot.com/

eilism

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