I quite disagree with Michele. LA CENA is a fulfilling experience, and quite up to my favorites by Scola, such as LA NUIT DE VARENNES. Like that masterpiece, LA CENA demands an attentive audience, one astute enough to follow disparate conversations among characters who clearly have lives before and after the period covered in the film. I laughed quite a bit, shed a few tears, and liked the fact that, while a few of the characters stories were resolved after a fashion, most were left open, as you would expect in a trattoria with such a Roman cross section. Welcome old pros Giannini (who has a wonderful explosion of temper), Sandrelli (who provides an aching portrait of ageing vanity),and Gassmann (who gives a pungent running commentary on the evening) are terrific, but the radiant Fanny Ardant (fabulous down to her very red shoes) was the one who made me wish that there really was such a place to drop into next time I'm in Rome...
11 Reviews
Dinner theater
jotix1005 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Dining out is a pleasure some of us enjoy. Today's busy life style makes restaurants the social gathering places for most people that love to eat out, as well as entertaining in a neutral territory, or make business deals. It is inevitably not to overhear some conversations around where one sits. Eavesdropping cannot be avoided because most diners are, for the most part, enjoying themselves; they do not care if their conversations are heard at the other tables, in most cases tongues are loosened up with drinks.
Arturo al Portico is a Roman trattoria that caters to a well to do crowd. Most of the patrons are dressed for a night out with some sense of formality. Flora, who runs the place with her husband, is the perfect hostess. Her tact is impeccable. She is friendly, yet Flora knows her place and is never pushy. In other words, going to Arturo's is a pleasant experience for most visitors. Some even go daily, like Professor Pezzullo, and Flora, who appreciates his loyalty, has kept his checks at about the same price level for a number of years. The man is wise, as he is old. He observes everything; after all, he is in the middle of a theatrical performance every night!
The different diners one gets to know form a diverse group of individuals with their own dramas. Like Isabella, having dinner with her daughter. The girl makes an announcement about wanting to become a nun, something that confounds Isabella. Then, there is a woman that brings two men that her lovers, more will join her group later. The two actors dining together discuss the upcoming play in which one will have nothing to say, while the other will have the great lines. Another professor arrives with a young student with whom he is having an affair. The young woman has written a letter to the wife telling how she loves her husband and discussing her egotism for wanting him for herself alone. Each table seems to be having its own particular situation, each one different from the other. The Japanese family enjoy capturing the people in the restaurant in Polaroids because the people they meet are so much different from them.
Ettore Scola, the great Italian director, invites his audience to accompany him to the restaurant that is in reality, a microcosm of the society in which he lives. He knows these people well and knows what moves them. Mr. Scola weaves the different stories into a great tapestry. His characters are people of a certain social status. The director, who also co-wrote the screenplay takes us table hopping to meet these people on a night out while they enjoy themselves.
Vittorio Gassman, one of the best Italian actors of all times, appears as Professor Pezzullo, the older man that has seen a lot in his life. There are so many characters and situations that no one does a star turn, it is more of an ensemble play. Fanny Ardant is the radiant Flora, the owner of the restaurant. She is a joy to watch because she rules the place with tact and fairness. Stefania Sandrelli is Isabella, the mother who learns about her daughter's decision while at the restaurant. Giancarlo Giannini is the other professor having the affair with a younger woman. Marie Gillain, the French actress, appears as Allieva, whose heart is about to be broken at dinner. The supporting cast makes a great contribution to the film.
Bon apetito!
Arturo al Portico is a Roman trattoria that caters to a well to do crowd. Most of the patrons are dressed for a night out with some sense of formality. Flora, who runs the place with her husband, is the perfect hostess. Her tact is impeccable. She is friendly, yet Flora knows her place and is never pushy. In other words, going to Arturo's is a pleasant experience for most visitors. Some even go daily, like Professor Pezzullo, and Flora, who appreciates his loyalty, has kept his checks at about the same price level for a number of years. The man is wise, as he is old. He observes everything; after all, he is in the middle of a theatrical performance every night!
The different diners one gets to know form a diverse group of individuals with their own dramas. Like Isabella, having dinner with her daughter. The girl makes an announcement about wanting to become a nun, something that confounds Isabella. Then, there is a woman that brings two men that her lovers, more will join her group later. The two actors dining together discuss the upcoming play in which one will have nothing to say, while the other will have the great lines. Another professor arrives with a young student with whom he is having an affair. The young woman has written a letter to the wife telling how she loves her husband and discussing her egotism for wanting him for herself alone. Each table seems to be having its own particular situation, each one different from the other. The Japanese family enjoy capturing the people in the restaurant in Polaroids because the people they meet are so much different from them.
Ettore Scola, the great Italian director, invites his audience to accompany him to the restaurant that is in reality, a microcosm of the society in which he lives. He knows these people well and knows what moves them. Mr. Scola weaves the different stories into a great tapestry. His characters are people of a certain social status. The director, who also co-wrote the screenplay takes us table hopping to meet these people on a night out while they enjoy themselves.
Vittorio Gassman, one of the best Italian actors of all times, appears as Professor Pezzullo, the older man that has seen a lot in his life. There are so many characters and situations that no one does a star turn, it is more of an ensemble play. Fanny Ardant is the radiant Flora, the owner of the restaurant. She is a joy to watch because she rules the place with tact and fairness. Stefania Sandrelli is Isabella, the mother who learns about her daughter's decision while at the restaurant. Giancarlo Giannini is the other professor having the affair with a younger woman. Marie Gillain, the French actress, appears as Allieva, whose heart is about to be broken at dinner. The supporting cast makes a great contribution to the film.
Bon apetito!
so much life in so small place
Arien_Kartheiser27 September 2004
I was amazed after the very five minutes. this is not the kind of movie for people who don't care about others or those who are selfish and self-centered I'm sure that people would hate this piece of art, you'll see a whole world inside of few lives. the wise, the magic in every character, some jokes, problems, lies, some fantasy... its just hard to describe. I was eating popcorn and thinking when finally that waiter will take my order. if you have a child's-like imagination, or just you were in some hide small family "restorante" in Italia you'll maybe lived this movie. its perfect for those days when you feel like the world sucks
9.8/10
9.8/10
Scola scores again!
azogbi17 April 2001
Once again Scola manages to produce high quality cinema, needing for it no more than a good cast of actors and his magistral talent. Rather than the usual Hollywood menu of vulgarity, violence and sex, "La Cena" manages to present in its less that 2 hours, a wide array of dramas in the course of a single dinner evening in a common restaurant. At each table the guests will be immersed in a particular drama (mother vs. daughter, old professor with young student lover, etc.) which are autonomous in themselves but that seem to be part of a larger script. That is achieved thanks to the masterful camera movement that weaves itself among the tables and connects all the independent dramas offering us an orchestrated picture of the restaurant's whole microcosm. Well worth seeing.
Wonderful!
PV-72 November 1999
Only 12 votes before mine? How could it be? Well, the movie is really one of the best I've ever seen. Scola directs his actors just like a great orchestra, keeping the action always in the same place, and following it almost in real time (I mean, 2 hours of movie to describe 2 hours in the life of the characters). So the film make you see an evening in the life of different people (with their stories, their problems, their loves), that have nothing in common one with each other but the place they're in, a restaurant. And all this is shown with a look that's funny and sad at the same time. A great construction of the director, supported by a gorgeous cast!
Pure Poetry - great art and great entertainment, hand in hand
cls-62 February 2002
This film is no small feat, by most criteria. There is not one scene, one piece of dialogue that doesn't work perfectly in its own right and in relation to the broader context of the movie. All characters are solidly conceived and utterly believable, and the flawless, well-measured acting of the WHOLE cast render them authentic and charismatic.
Depicting simply a night at a traditional Italian restaurant, the movie doesn't have a major unifying plot. It never needed one in the first place. The situations particular to each group of characters, to each table, are more than enough to keep the audience following the action flow through the place. The viewer's attention is held at peak throughout the whole movie, from beginning to end, which is a very rare and amazing achievement for any film. Even more amazing a feat it is for a movie which happens in one single place, with no more than a restaurant's few facilities for the action to spread.
As a whole, 'La Cena' showcases an intriguing and thoughtful, yet pleasant rendition of people's dilemmas, joys and relationships, contrary to the perception that "art" movies are tiresome, intellectual, self-indulgent exercises. This film potraits the beauty and poetry of life and human nature (corny, but nonetheless true), as masterfully as few but the European cinema masters can. A great example of the Italian tradition of moviemaking, ten out of ten, no doubt about it.
And on top of everything else, aren't there ugly, charmless women in Italy? Madonna mia!
Depicting simply a night at a traditional Italian restaurant, the movie doesn't have a major unifying plot. It never needed one in the first place. The situations particular to each group of characters, to each table, are more than enough to keep the audience following the action flow through the place. The viewer's attention is held at peak throughout the whole movie, from beginning to end, which is a very rare and amazing achievement for any film. Even more amazing a feat it is for a movie which happens in one single place, with no more than a restaurant's few facilities for the action to spread.
As a whole, 'La Cena' showcases an intriguing and thoughtful, yet pleasant rendition of people's dilemmas, joys and relationships, contrary to the perception that "art" movies are tiresome, intellectual, self-indulgent exercises. This film potraits the beauty and poetry of life and human nature (corny, but nonetheless true), as masterfully as few but the European cinema masters can. A great example of the Italian tradition of moviemaking, ten out of ten, no doubt about it.
And on top of everything else, aren't there ugly, charmless women in Italy? Madonna mia!
Not my cup of tea
vitachiel5 January 2008
It was to be expected that most comments on this movie were of a congratulatory nature. What's not to like about a film that focuses on just one whole evening of people having dinner in a typical Italian restaurant, with typical Italian costumers with a typical Italian predilection for good food and wine, while eavesdropping on their typical Italian conversations? OK, I'm a bit too cynical here, I know. In fact, for people interested in Italian cultural peculiarities, this film is definitively worth watching. If you want to see a good and/or entertaining movie with interesting characters, a good plot or original directing, look elsewhere. Because the personality of all the characters is set and fixed from the start and nothing is done to add a twist in psychology or state of affairs of those involved, prepare for a long and tedious sit. Nearly every second somebody is talking, but not one conversation ever gets really interesting or funny. All in all, too much of the same.
One of the best movies I ever seen!
ljian29 January 2002
A masterpiece
gregor_markovich17 June 2011
The current score of this film (6.7) certainly does no justice to it and is indicative of what years of Hollywood-made movies does to what one expects from a movie.
This film does not have a coherent story, it does not take the viewer from point A to point B and thus does not offer any real "character advancement" or real "scenario". I believe the lack of those things causes the condemnation of most viewers since to most a "film" is a "story".
Well, Scola shows that it ain't necessarily so. This film could best be described as a series of "pictures" of characters and their situations. By taking us from table to table and shifting our attention from one to the next, he manages to portray the great deal of diversity of possible human positions/conditions/situations. The hall of the restaurant becomes a mosaic of people from all corners of the social structure and they have all kinds of fears, aspirations, hopes, sexual interests, political or financial anxieties, doubts or troubles.
Scola uses maestrically the twists of his characters moods and their dialogue in order to occasionally insert his own social or political comments, thus giving more substance to the film. He does so without showing that he wants to do so however, and the remarks might easily be passed by the uninterested or the uninitiated totally unnoticed.
The human conditions depicted in the film although presented in a light manner are no joke: The increasing distancing of a mother from her adolescent daughter, the illegitimate love between a professor and his student, the anxiety and lack of self assessment of a bank clerk, the anger of a grown-up daughter towards her supposedly un-loving father (and many more) are all deeply touching human conditions which Scola presents with a soft, warm, and at the same time lively manner.
The "gist" of the film is that by constantly moving from table to table and from situation to situation he slowly takes us through the collective proceeding of the "solution" or every case -either positive, negative or neutral- and when the film ends, you feel an undeniable sense of closure, of communication, of warmth, of collectiveness, of life. Scola makes us feel like we were sitting together with his characters, on their tables, and makes us understand what is the true meaning of sitting around a table with other people. It is the explanation of the "symposium" as one of the characters explains, too, in the film and Scola explains it in the most humane, warm and caring manner.
This film is nothing less than a masterpiece.
This film does not have a coherent story, it does not take the viewer from point A to point B and thus does not offer any real "character advancement" or real "scenario". I believe the lack of those things causes the condemnation of most viewers since to most a "film" is a "story".
Well, Scola shows that it ain't necessarily so. This film could best be described as a series of "pictures" of characters and their situations. By taking us from table to table and shifting our attention from one to the next, he manages to portray the great deal of diversity of possible human positions/conditions/situations. The hall of the restaurant becomes a mosaic of people from all corners of the social structure and they have all kinds of fears, aspirations, hopes, sexual interests, political or financial anxieties, doubts or troubles.
Scola uses maestrically the twists of his characters moods and their dialogue in order to occasionally insert his own social or political comments, thus giving more substance to the film. He does so without showing that he wants to do so however, and the remarks might easily be passed by the uninterested or the uninitiated totally unnoticed.
The human conditions depicted in the film although presented in a light manner are no joke: The increasing distancing of a mother from her adolescent daughter, the illegitimate love between a professor and his student, the anxiety and lack of self assessment of a bank clerk, the anger of a grown-up daughter towards her supposedly un-loving father (and many more) are all deeply touching human conditions which Scola presents with a soft, warm, and at the same time lively manner.
The "gist" of the film is that by constantly moving from table to table and from situation to situation he slowly takes us through the collective proceeding of the "solution" or every case -either positive, negative or neutral- and when the film ends, you feel an undeniable sense of closure, of communication, of warmth, of collectiveness, of life. Scola makes us feel like we were sitting together with his characters, on their tables, and makes us understand what is the true meaning of sitting around a table with other people. It is the explanation of the "symposium" as one of the characters explains, too, in the film and Scola explains it in the most humane, warm and caring manner.
This film is nothing less than a masterpiece.
Plato's philosophy
kodaky19 June 2006
Clearly it is an adaptation of Plato's The Symposium in which the Greek philosopher discusses about Love. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symposium_%28Plato_dialogue%29 Ettore Scola was great by transposing the Greeks' feasts to an Italian restaurant, simply great! Some people may be offended by gay directions, but it is Plato's position: the greatest love possible is between the master and his pupil. That explains the sweet erotic scene of the two guys at the end of the film. "The purpose of this was so that, when a man embraced a woman, he would cast his seed and they would have children; but when male embraced male, they would at least have the satisfaction of intercourse, after which they could stop embracing, return to their jobs, and look after their other needs in life." Symposium, 191c-d The film also shows other forms of Love like: mom and son, friends, man and woman... and all of them some problem shows up. And what really matters is to love rather than being loved.
Awful
Goldmine-216 August 2000
I gave 1 to this film. I can't understand how Ettore Scola,one of the greater directors of Italian cinema, made a film like this, so stupid and ridiculous! All the stories of the people involved in the movie are unsubstantial,boring and not interesting. Too long,too boring. The only things I save in this movie are Giancarlo Giannini and Vittorio Gasmann. Hope that Scola will change radically themes and style in his next film.
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