Review: LAVAZZA ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2016: PERFECT STRANGERS (PERFETTI SCONOSCIUTI) Both Intrigues And Cautions

Reviewed by Libby Drake, Wednesday 7th September 2016

Paolo Genovese's 2016 intriguing film, Perfect Strangers (Perfetti Sconosciuti), has been selected to open the Lavazza Italian Film Festival 2016.

The set up for Perfect Strangers is both interesting and enticing. A couple host a dinner party for a group of seven long-time friends. The conversation turns to how well they all know each other, maybe so well that they have no secrets. To test this, the hostess challenges the friends to put their phones on the table and share every message, email and phone call received during the meal. The audience silently screams, "No, no, don't do it!" But the characters don't hear us and launch headlong into the "game", even if a little reluctantly on the part of some.

We don't know the characters well when the game begins, so we see them exposed at the same time as their friends do, and share the range of emotions being felt around the table. Ethical decisions are made, wisdom shared, conclusions jumped to, and lies told.

Overall this was an enjoyable film without perhaps entirely fulfilling the promise of the premise. The fine line-up of Italian actors (Giuseppe Battiston, Anna Foglietta, Marco Giallini, Edoardo Leo, Valerio Mastandrea, Alba Rohrwacher, Kasia Smutniak) were all convincing in their roles, however, it was a stretch to believe that so many secrets were held by so many people, and that they would all surface in those few hours.

Particularly in the first half there were some nice moments of humour, ranging from smiles to belly laughs. There are also some lovely moments of poignancy, such as when the father is forced to give life-changing advice to his teenage daughter while his wife and friends listen in without the daughter's knowledge. While the relationship between the three is being publicly exposed the father's only concern is for his daughter's welfare.

A feeling of unease slowly builds and is then maintained, creating an, at times, intense atmosphere. Much of this is achieved by close filming of the characters and subtle circling of the camera, capturing reactions as secrets emerge.

Perfect Strangers brings home how much of our lives are contained within the "black box" of our smart phone. It also points out how suspicious we can be of the secrets others may have hidden in their own black box. When seeing or hearing a sentence in isolation the worst conclusion is often the first jumped to, correct or not.

The film's other well advised message is, if you are ever invited to play this game, say no!

Perfect Strangers screens at the Palace Nova, Adelaide, South Australia from Wednesday 21st September.

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