Salt of Life, The (2010)

Original title Gianni e le donne

Director Gianni Di Gregorio

Breaking no new ground but delighting its audience nevertheless, Gianni Di Gregorio's follow-up to his surprise hit Mid-August Lunch sees the writer-director reprising the mild-mannered ageing Roman mamma's boy character from that film. This time round he's required not to look after four old ladies but to prove he's still got what it takes by finding himself a lover. Though it at first feels a little inconsequential, this humane comedy is given depth by the vein of melancholy and poetic longing that runs through its gentle comic sketch structure... Like Nanni Moretti or Woody Allen, Di Gregorio mines his own long-suffering face and character for comedy, and he has such sympathetic presence and charm that he can probably run for a couple more films at least before we start demanding more of a story... It's the everyday realism and quietness of the comedy that wins us round in the end... - Lee Marshall / Screen International