The Wonders

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isla s @RT89656869 Sep 3, 2022 This is a somewhat sobering watch about a family living close to the breadline, on perhaps the outskirts of society. There is a lot of footage of bees, so if your especially squeamish about them then this won't be a film for you, suffice to say. I suppose there was something respectable about how the children seemed so comfortable around said bees. There is a definite dysfunctional side/element to the family - it was sad seeing the arguments and I felt sorry for certain characters. This is a good watch, perhaps not brilliant but good. If your a fan of world cinema then I'd say this is worth a watch. See more raphael g @raphagimenes Sep 22, 2019 Fell asleep but it seems nice. See more nefasto r @Nefasto Jan 4, 2018 I quote: "WONDER: a feeling of amazement and admiration, caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar." Indeed. See more Jan 30, 2017 Interesting look at an isolated existence that's suddenly invaded and disrupted, but little of substance actually happens, and there's not a lot of pace to the film either. See more Dec 3, 2016 Italian and German with subtitles. Written and directed by Alice Rohrwacher. The film is centred on Gelsomina (Maria Alexandra Lungu) and her odd family in the middle of nowhere on a run-down farm in Tuscany. The family business is making honey and this coming-of-age drama vividly shows their isolated life and their struggles with keeping their bees intact. Bad weather, poison weedkiller and escaping swarms are some of their problems. The plotline is very weak though, it is as if we are just following a rambling episode of their existence. Pretty though it is visually. The father is a blow-hard ranting against the outside world. He desperately wants things to stay the same, but the outside world intrudes into his insularity. Gelsomina, like most teenagers want to break away from the confines of the family and an opportunity arises when a cheesy show turns up on a video shoot. The show is offering money and a grand prize for the most artisan product in the area. So their honey is in with a chance. Predictably enough the father is dead set against entering the competition, but Gelsomina covertly enters anyway. In addition, as they are desperate for money they take in a virtually mute 14 year old delinquent boy as part of his rehabilitation whose only virtue seems to be the ability to whistle nicely. The storyline doesn't seem to make his presence relevant until some scenes towards the end. Another oddity in the plot is the purchase of a camel, which then refuses to stand up. It made no sense, why did the otherwise tight fisted father decide to buy a camel? There was also no explanation of why the father often slept on a mattress in the middle of the yard. Baffling. Part of the raison d'etre of the film may be to show the vanishing poverty stricken parochial way of life in Tuscany and the rise of tourism as a more profitable enterprise. The end scene emphasises this. It won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival. See more Nov 26, 2016 Un film noioso che non lascia il segno, se non per la decadenza vista nella pellicola. See more Read all reviews

The Wonders

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