Depending on how you look at it the idea behind Perfetti Sconosciuti (Perfect Strangers) could be seen as quite ambitious or an absolute nightmare. Almost the entire film takes place in a single location in an apartment, where a small group of friends have gathered for a dinner party. Over the course of the evening - for the next hour and a half of the film - we and their friends gradually find out what little secrets each of them keep. No-one's life is going to be the same again.
It starts out as a little experiment, a game, and it doesn't sound terribly promising.. Three couples and one single friend - whose new girlfriend wasn't well enough to attend - sit down to dinner and the banal conversation inevitably turns around to discussing the differences between about men and women. Men are like PCs apparently and women are Macs. A point of contention however is established over the situation of one of their friends who is going through a divorce; his wife having discovered he was having an affair with a 22 year old. "How many couples would split up if they looked at each other's phones", they wonder. Well, let's play a game then...
They all agree to leave their phones on the table, and any message, text or call that arrives during the evening must be shared with everyone. Surely everyone will agree to this, unless they have something to hide. Well, there's little doubt that secrets will be revealed and attempted to be explained, but the question is who will be found out? All of them? And how bad will it be? What soon becomes apparent is that the evening is not going to end well, and any hope of damage limitation vanishes as the evening gradually descends into anger, recrimination and complete havoc.
It's not just the subject that is divisive here, but the manner in which the film handles this potentially vicious game is also a tough one to call. Paolo Genovese is not Michael Haneke, so no-one is going to be responsible for the genocide of a colonial nation or crimes against humanity, but the director's take on the romantic-comedy with a touch of philosophising in films like Tutta copla di Freud (Blame Freud) doesn't inspire confidence that Genovese is capable of revealing any real insights on relationships, particularly though such a contrived situation.
If it was an out-an-out comedy - or even just a little funnier - you might find Perfetti Sconosciuti an amusing distraction with some interesting observations, but Genovese tries to make it into an "issue" film and moralise a little, and there he's on less secure ground. Having said that, there's much to enjoy in the situation and performances - the film winning David di Donatello awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay awards in 2016 - and once on-board, you'll want to see this through to its inevitably catastrophic conclusion. Inevitably? Well, twists abound, which is another divisive tactic and a sign perhaps on lack of commitment, but when the film makes its point either way, it's hard to feel cheated.
It starts out as a little experiment, a game, and it doesn't sound terribly promising.. Three couples and one single friend - whose new girlfriend wasn't well enough to attend - sit down to dinner and the banal conversation inevitably turns around to discussing the differences between about men and women. Men are like PCs apparently and women are Macs. A point of contention however is established over the situation of one of their friends who is going through a divorce; his wife having discovered he was having an affair with a 22 year old. "How many couples would split up if they looked at each other's phones", they wonder. Well, let's play a game then...
They all agree to leave their phones on the table, and any message, text or call that arrives during the evening must be shared with everyone. Surely everyone will agree to this, unless they have something to hide. Well, there's little doubt that secrets will be revealed and attempted to be explained, but the question is who will be found out? All of them? And how bad will it be? What soon becomes apparent is that the evening is not going to end well, and any hope of damage limitation vanishes as the evening gradually descends into anger, recrimination and complete havoc.
It's not just the subject that is divisive here, but the manner in which the film handles this potentially vicious game is also a tough one to call. Paolo Genovese is not Michael Haneke, so no-one is going to be responsible for the genocide of a colonial nation or crimes against humanity, but the director's take on the romantic-comedy with a touch of philosophising in films like Tutta copla di Freud (Blame Freud) doesn't inspire confidence that Genovese is capable of revealing any real insights on relationships, particularly though such a contrived situation.
If it was an out-an-out comedy - or even just a little funnier - you might find Perfetti Sconosciuti an amusing distraction with some interesting observations, but Genovese tries to make it into an "issue" film and moralise a little, and there he's on less secure ground. Having said that, there's much to enjoy in the situation and performances - the film winning David di Donatello awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay awards in 2016 - and once on-board, you'll want to see this through to its inevitably catastrophic conclusion. Inevitably? Well, twists abound, which is another divisive tactic and a sign perhaps on lack of commitment, but when the film makes its point either way, it's hard to feel cheated.