“Bread and Tulips”
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“Bread and Tulips”
Bread and Tulip rank among the best of Italian romance comedies of all time. Also known as Pane e tulipani, it is an Italian and a David Di Donatello Awards Winning movie that was directed by Silvio Soldini and co-scripted by Doriana Leondeff, in 2000. I would compare it to “isn’t it romantic’ that debuted in 2019. Intertwined with romance and comedy, Bread and Tulip take us through a kind of a fairy tale journey of a woman named Rosalba Barletta (Licia Maglietta) who finds herself in two different worlds. One of these environments was that of a materialistic housewife in her home in Pescara living with her womanizer husband Mimmo (Antonio Cantania). The other world was that of romance and support in Venice, a city she had never been to before, where she encounters an Iceland gentleman Bruno Ganz as Fernando Girasole. He would later become her lover (David, 2000). She also meets an anarchist florist Fermo (Felice Andreasi), and Grazia (Marina Massironi), a beautician. It is from this setting that much of the storyline unfolds. Silvio depicts different themes in this funny movie, including the position of a woman in society, love, and the destiny of each person in life (Luciano, 2002). With an exemplary sequence and a touch of comedy brought out easily by the characters, the movie retains its fairy tale nature in an aesthetic Italian way.
It all starts with a family that is going around having fun during a bus tour. Things changes after Rosalba lost her wedding ring in a toilet drain (Valena1987, 2008). Unable to catch a bus back home she gives up on the quest of waiting for her family to come back for her. She experiences misfortunes like lacking enough cash that would have sustained her. This prompts her to go back to the trattoria where she had been before to seek help from Fernando the suicidal hotel waiter (David, 2000). While it apparent that most of the shooting of this comic romantic movie is done in Venice, the director seems conscious about the places he chooses to do the shooting. It is rather obvious that the director avoids the tourist attraction site of the city and only does most of the shooting in building and streets (Luciano, 2002).
Silvio builds the sequence similar to a dream come true for the main character Rosalba. After she was lost, she soon adopts a new life and meet other characters including Fernando who later becomes her new lover. Her husband’s effort of sending an amateur detective plumber Costantino (Battiston) to get her back prove effortless as he also finds a lover Grazia, Rosalba’s neighbor. She gets back to her family later in the movie after learning that her adolescent son had involved himself in drugs (Valena1987, 2008). It is not long before Fernando, her Venice lover comes back for her.
The most important thing to note from this sequence is the characterization given to the cast. There is humor that is too self-consciously outlandish for every character. The characteristic does not only make the story interesting but also sparks interest that helps build on the plot (Tognolotti, 2017). All the cast is given a uniform characteristic. For example, Rosalba and her gaiety character which makes to her grow more beautiful and courageous throughout the movie is given equal attention to Fernando’s enigmatic character pitted with his poetic phrases. There is also uniform characteristic given to Costantino and Grazia the jovial neighbor and friend to Rosalba. By doing this, Silvio made the story line to stand out from other film since he does not make any character special to the other (Luciano, 2002). It also appears as genuine since the cast bring out their real characteristics.
Watching the movie you would notice how the director emphasized on the aspect of symbols and imagery. The title of the movie itself served as symbol. Bread signified the life Maglietta lived with his former husband of materialistic abundance. Tulips, on the other hand, signified her romantic life in the city of Venice and her love to Fernando. The flowers used in the film signified romance and gave the movie a colorful touch which exemplified the characteristic of Italian streets (Luciano, 2002).
The movie also employs the use of various film production techniques that captures every moment of the storyline. Silvio did a great work as he combines these different film element to enhance the genre and the themes of this Italian scripter film. The aspect of cinematography comes out in the music used in different scenes and the camera works. In terms of music, the director in cooperated Italian operatic music in several parts in the film. The main reason for this was to depict the type of emotion the characters displayed. For example slow and playful tunes from Giovanni Venosta came in during an activity and signified a change of a scene. There was also a significant emphasis on the camera works. Most of the scenes from the movie were shot using close-up camera shot since most of the scenes took place inside building. They served to depict emotions of the characters and also show the detail of what was being emphasizes in a particular scene. For example, Silvio mainly employed close-ups in conversations of the characters. Meanwhile, the use of mid-shots is several parts of the movie to show the general geographic view of the place (Luciano, 2002). In as much as he employed the use of camera tilting in the movie, he did it considerably.
From the sequence of the film, it is easy to note the type of themes that comes out. Love and romance is among the many theme that come out from this film. Silvio and his co-writer Doriana Leondeff intertwines this theme with comedy which makes it more interesting. Maglietta falls into a love relationship with Fernando who she met in Venice after she got lost during a family bus tour. Fernando love for her prompts him to go back for her after she went back to her family (Valena1987, 2008). We also see Costantino falling in love with Grazia during his ‘mission’ as a detective.
To summarize, I found this movie funny just from the action of the characters in as much as I never understood the Italian language. Watching this movie I could not agree much why it continuous to rock in the list of blockbuster movies decades after its release. It was extraordinary how Silvio chose to make every cast uniform. Not only did this make the movies interesting but also topped the list of my favorite comedy movies. The humor brought out by the self-consciously quirky characterization was undesirable. Overall it was a good movie and would recommend it to the lovers of comedy entwined with romance.
References
David, R. (2000). Bread and Tulips. Retrieved from https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/bread-and-tulips-1200461249/
Luciano, B. (2002, July). Rethinking identity in the cinema of Silvio Soldini. In Forum for Modern Language Studies (Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 341-351). Oxford University Press.
Tognolotti, C. (2017). Existences on the edge. Places of passage and female characters in the cinema of Silvio Soldini/Esistenze sul filo. Luoghi di passaggio e figure di donne nel cinema di Silvio Soldini. Firenze Architettura, 21(1), 170-178.
Valena1987 (2008). Pane e Tulipani Scene finali. YouTube [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFTUxca8acQ