Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Tue 17 Apr only

Daniele Luchetti / Italy/France / 2010 / 98 mins

Commodity fetishism is the substitution of true social relations between individuals with things of market value as a result of that ole chestnut: capitalism. Contentious? Perhaps, but it also happens to be the subject none too subtly explored in Daniele Luchetti’s 2010 film Our Life. The film follows Claudio (Elio Germano), a builder from Rome, who, after the sudden loss of his wife decides to provide everything his three young sons could ever want. This, however, forces him to resort to some unsavoury methods of procuring money and neglect the more important facets of fatherhood.

Elio Germano gives an endearing performance as Claudio (for which he deservedly won several awards), making the often morally questionable character consistently likeable. There are also several moments in the film, such as the scenes following the death of his wife, which are treated with great dignity and delicacy. However, this is oddly counteracted by the fact that the viewer is bombarded with as many painfully obvious anti-consumerist aphorisms as Claudio’s sons are Nintendo Wiis. There are also far too many clichés, such as wheeler-dealer contractors and abusive Eastern European husbands. Luckily, the realistic performances of the cast’s youngest members (Damiano De Laurentis and Guglielmo Luca Giannetti) create tender relationships between themselves and Germano, resulting in the film’s best scenes and mostly redeeming its indiscretions.

Reviewed as part of the Italian Film Festival 2012 @ Filmhouse.