Genova Movie Review

Genova Cast: Colin Firth, Hope Davis, Catherine Keener, Willa Holland, Perla Haney-Jardine
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Screenplay: Laurence Coriat, Michael Winterbottom
Genre: Drama
Rated: M Mature themes and coarse language
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Released: 5 Nov 2009

Synopsis:
A contemporary family ghost story in the vein of "Don't Look Now" mixed with the sexiness of "Stealing Beauty". The exotic town of Genova provides a fresh start for Joe and his two young daughters - a family in the throes of finding new lives after the sudden death of their mother. Kelly, the 16-year-old, explores the sexy and dangerous underbelly of this mysterious new world, while the youngest, Mary, has just seen the ghost of her mother wandering the streets.

My Verdict:
A tragic accident claims the life of Marianne (Hope Davis), mother to 16-year-old Kelly (Willa Holland) and 10-year-old Mary (Perla Haney-Jardine) and wife to Joe (Colin Firth). A few months later, Joe decides to relocate to Genova, Italy, at the suggestion of his ex-colleague Barbara (Catherine Keener), landing a job lecturing at the local university. Genova is their story following the accident.

Genova is a very demanding and almost depressing movie as we watch a family grieve for the loss of their wife and mother. Their grief is overwhelmingly raw as they struggle to carry on compounded by their culture shock at moving to another country, especially when they don't know the language. To that end, it does become a mini-travelogue with some wonderful scenery and scenes featuring unique hidden back streets that so many cities possess.

Colin Firth has the task of carrying the movie and does well with the job. Being thrust into becoming a single father to a teenage daughter and a younger daughter as well as dealing with his own life changes, Firth manages to shift between confidence to despair easily and is convincing. Willa Holland, as the teenage Kelly, is loaded with teenage angst as she makes friends with some local teenagers and begins to neglect her family. Perla Haney-Jardine has possibly the hardest role as the young Mary as it is her grief and guilt that is so overt as she struggles to understand the changes to her life. It is an extraordinary performance as night after night she suffers excruciating nightmares involving her mother, as well as seeing her mother in various locations around Genova.

There are some major frustrations with Genova, mainly the issue of impending action that never eventuates. The sense of an almighty climax looms well into the third act involving Joe and his daughters but we are severely let down with a soft resolution. There are some rewarding moments however, which save Genova from becoming too gloomy but these are too few. Director Michael Winterbottom has steered the movie around Genova, which for some might not be quite the place they had anticipated nor quite the movie they were expecting.

Rating : ***

Christina Bruce