Io Sono L'Amore (I Am Love)

A rather popular recent movie, starring and in many respects a vehicle for, Tilda Swinton.
We shouls start by qualifying; this film isn't completely awful. It is trying to express something real. The landscape is terrific. Kudo for trying to make a highly personal film in the mixture of sweeping camera work and the nearly grainy, hand held style. Swinton has some wonderful, briefly caught, facial expressions. The sets are dressed nice and precisely.
For all these good intentions, it is though a film that is poor, and almost laughably bad at times. Most obviously, it is heavily cliched (lesbian short haired artist daughter? Rain when sadness comes?) It takes its straightforawrd hokum hugely, ridiculously seriously. It is difficult not to laugh at the ridiculous melodrama, of the plot and the sweeping strings.
It is through poor direction that the problems come. The film simply lacks weight. The hand held style does not give us the long establishing shots of characterisation that are required, so that frankly outside of Swinton (who barely scrapes by) no one has a character at all. This is a combination of poor direction, of snatched shots, and of acting that does not seem capable of making anything of this. The narrative lacks focus, not being a straightforward psychological portrait, but too jerky to ever really be a family saga. Along with the portentous tone we really also have a rather banal, completely overdone, 'back to nature' plot.
A poor film, though enjoyable in its laughable banality. Better than cynical trash, but not worth any real praise.