At last--a really decent review of
Ciao. http://www.gonewiththetwins.com/pages/2008/ciao.phpCiaoGenre: Drama
Running Time: 1 hr. 27 min.
Release Date: December 5th, 2008
MPAA Rating: R for language including sexual references.
Director: Yen Tan
Actors: Adam Neal Smith, Alessandro Calza, Ethel Lung, Chuck Blaum
"The film shines in moments of stillness and reflection, capturing the silence of mourning with the intended matter of course."Quietly contemplative, often haunting, strangely simplistic and surprisingly literal,
“Ciao” is a film with visible frays around the edges but is touching and well intentioned. The nature of loss, unrequited love and solace come through with care and compassion, despite having minimal insights on the subjects, vying instead for the persistence and simplicity of memory and romantic substitution.
The film shines in moments of stillness and reflection, capturing the silence of mourning with the intended matter of course; however, some awkward blocking, stilted delivery of dialogue and a lack of aesthetic consistency when framing casual exchanges intermittently disconnects the audience from full emotional connection. This is only exacerbated by dialogue that sticks to the surface of things, avoiding any sort of perceived conflict or deeper character idiosyncrasies with excess niceties, forgetting that occasional differences are often what reveal true connection.
That said, there is a natural chemistry between the leads and an overall payoff that gives the apt title a great deal of emotional significance.
This story of closure follows Jeff (
Adam Neal Smith) who, after the sudden death of his best friend Mark (
Chuck Blaum), discovers extensive correspondence between his friend and an Italian pen pal named Andrea (
Alessandro Calza). Having never heard of this extensive, romantic correspondence, and learning that Andrea intended to visit Mark, Jeff is confused, upset and curious, which leads to him extending an invitation to the Italian stranger for a visit.
The pair essentially shares tales of Mark, learning more about their lost love through minor revelations and brief anecdotes, which inevitably leads to their connection and ultimately, the emotional substitution of Mark with each other in order to bid farewell to a lost love that never was.
Strangely, what is essentially two people using each other for an otherwise challenging cessation, comes off as extremely human and sad, finding a homogeneity in the pain of loss. Some stronger performances, more consistent direction and a more fleshed out script would have strengthened the overall impact but
“Ciao” is leaps and bounds beyond other gay cinema as of late, which alone is worthy of merit.
- Robert Bell
©2008 Gone With the Twins.
