Reviewed by Kim Choe
What starts off as a family drama quickly descends into slapstick comedy.
Nonna, the ageing family matriarch, has her heart set on making one last trip before she dies – to her late husband’s hometown in Italy. But it’s her heart that’s the problem – it’s weak, and her family is too concerned to let her go alone, but not concerned enough to go with her.
The solution they come up with is equally ingenious and farcical.
It plays on Nonna’s failing memory, to the point the story eventually becomes belittling and insensitive. In short – they decide to trick her. “If she isn’t going to remember, let’s just tell her we’ve already been,” says one relative.
It’s funny for a while, then frustrating, as Nonna’s family refuse to acknowledge how switched on she really is.
Despite this, there’s something endearing about watching them all tripping over themselves to please their mother in what they foolishly think will be the is the most hassle-free way to them all.
Cringe-worthingly charming.
This film played as part of the Latin American
Film Festival.
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El viaje de la Nonna
(Nonna’s Trip)
:: Director: Sebastián Silva
:: Running Time: 93 mins
