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Anders W. Berthelsen, Peter Gantzler, Lars Kaalund, Karen-Lise Mynster, Jesper Christensen ... see more see more... , Bent Mejding , Carlo Barsotti , Martin Brygmann , Claus Gerving , Steen Svare Hansen , Sara Indrio Jensen , Ann Eleonora Jørgensen , Alex Nyborg Madsen , Susanne Oldenburg , Elsebeth Steentoft , Anette Støvelbæk , Lene Tiemroth , Rikki Wölck

The Dogma 95 movement has seen some searing looks into the human condition but rarely a romantic comedy -- until now. Veteran Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig spins this deadpan look at a group of lovel... read more read more...orn outsiders living in a grey corner of Copenhagen. After the perennially foul-tempered minister of a local church is fired after doing great injury to the organist, Andreas moves to the area to take over the parish. Staying in a hotel until his predecessor can be wrested from the rectory, Andreas befriends the establishment's scatter-brained manager, Jørgen, who is utterly in love with a beautiful Italian barmaid working at a nearby pub run by Hal-Finn. When the irascible Hal-Finn is chastised by the bar's owner for his unkempt appearance, he goes to a local salon where he meets Karen, a comely hairdresser harried by her grasping mom. Meanwhile, Andreas falls for a lethally klutzy pastry shop assistant named Olympia. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

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76% liked it

5,820 ratings

Critics

88% liked it

82 critics

R, 1 hr. 52 min.

Directed by: Lone Scherfig

Release Date: September 1, 2001

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DVD Release Date: October 15, 2002

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Stats: 320 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (320)

  • paulsandberg
    November 7, 2010
    paulsandberg
    A Danish film from 2001 billed as a "romantic comedy", Italian for Beginners is not really a comedy at all, but a nice introspective look into our hearts and minds, where all are looking for something and find it through and because of community.

    Filmed in single camera style,... read more this has that low budget indie look to it, with some very abrupt editing as scene after scene cuts to tell the stories of a group of charactors in a Danish town. Dispite the editing and film style the director does a very nice job of keeping your eye interested by subtle use of closeups - not necessarily of faces, but hand gestures and such.

    What makes this film fly is earnest acting and a wonderful story that shows the viewer the many charactors and then weaves them together through not only a series of funerals, but an Italian class (hence the title). I felt that the way in which all the charators seemed to move in their own arcs and yet all came together was reminiscent of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, from a decade earlier.

    What this film has going for it, is its honesty and the almost brutally naked way in which the charactors are portrayed - just real people, living real lives.

    I can't really give a shout out to the actors - as it's often hard to get into nuance when you're reading subtitles - and I often found it surreal to be reading along and then realizing that the charactors had switched from speaking Danish, to speaking Italian (which they had learned in the class). However I will say that, while there are no big emotional scenes (except one which I will mention in just a bit), the lonliness and ofttimes dispair comes through easily.

    There is a wonderful dramatic scene that speaks volumes about the heart of this film (and why it really isn't a comedy at all). The parish Vicar has recently lost his wife to cancer, and while he loses his parish, he is allowed to stay on and live in the vicary. When the new priest arrives, he cat calls through his sermon, saying that God is an abstraction.

    When the new priest later confronts the old vicar, the old vicar states "God took my wife, and my wife took my God". A wounded soul if ever there was one - and the new priest can only respond that the vicar needs to move on with his life (assuming that God will right all wrongs, etc). This is all he can say, as he has recently lost his own wife - and FOUND God in the process - a contrast between light and dark, optimism and the abyss. Not the stuff of romantic comedy, is it?
  • aliceinpunderland
    January 24, 2009
    aliceinpunderland
    Sweet movie with some implausible, yet tolerable, coincidences. My first Dogme film and now I'm certainly more curious about the movement.
  • RicC
    May 24, 2010
    RicC
    This is one of those "Dogme" movies, which means the asshole director most likely thinks he or she is better than every other director in the world, but guess what - I liked it. It's evenly drama and romance and everyone can act their part. It's another one of those films high on... read more coincidences, with every character interrelated in some form or another, but I hadn't seen one of those films in Danish yet, so perhaps that's why I took a like to it anyway. Optimistic, feel-good, funny, with characters you care about (Maybe that's what the coincidences were scripted to do?)
  • brokenimage227
    June 22, 2008
    brokenimage227
    i normally have a strong dislike for Dogme films, but this is a great little love story. simple and sincere
  • thegirlwho
    June 22, 2008
    thegirlwho
    I liked this a lot. I find the whole Dogme95 style of filmmaking intriguing, but the other films I've seen have been very dark. This one managed to stay more on the lighthearted side.

View All Italiensk for Begyndere (Italian for Beginners) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Jeff Strickler
November 6, 2002
Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Scherfig, who has had a successful career in TV, tackles more than she can handle. Full Review

Robert Denerstein
August 9, 2002
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News

An engaging Danish movie that rises from the ashes of loneliness and despair to spread feelings of happiness across the screen.

Michael Wilmington
July 20, 2002
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

A rarity: a humane picture about modern romance among believable adults. Full Review

Roger Moore
March 28, 2002
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

[Scherfig] has made a movie that will leave you wondering about the characters' lives after the clever credits roll.

Andrew Sarris
March 13, 2002
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

The combination of lightness and strictness in this instance gives Italian for Beginners an amiable aimlessness that keeps it from seeming predictably formulaic. Full Review

Joe Baltake
March 8, 2002
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee

An unadorned and simple work that is one of the most purely pleasurable movies in ages. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
March 3, 2002
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

The result is that rarest of things -- a heartwarming love story that bears not a trace of cheap feeling or false emotion. Full Review

Peter Howell
February 26, 2002
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

Although Scherfig occasionally strays too far into the absurd, the movie is a refreshing change from formulaic romantic comedies. Full Review

Susan Stark
February 26, 2002
Susan Stark, Detroit News

It sends you away a believer again and quite cheered at just that.

Terry Lawson
February 26, 2002
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

In Italian for Beginners, Scherfig has failed at making her story and characters seem ordinary while succeeding at making a very ordinary film. Full Review

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