The human comedy is the poignant subject of director Guiseppe Tornatore's film EVERYBODY'S FINE. Fresh from his international triumph with CINEMA PARADISO, he gives us an encompassing view of Italian life.
Matteo Scuro (Marcello Mastroianni), an elderly widower, sets out on a journey of hope to visit each of his five adult children, with whom he's lost touch over the years. His first stop is Naples, the home of Alvaro (Salvatore Cascio). En route he daydreams about his children in their youth.
Unable to contact Alvaro, Matteo spends a restless day and night. Naples has many happy memories for it was there he and his bride spent their honeymoon.
His next stop is Rome to see Canio (Marino Cenna), a minor employee in the government. Canio and his family are pleased to see him. They invite him to stay with them, but Matteo is determined to visit his other children as soon as possible. While in Rome he is mugged and confronted with the
confused and irrational behavior of the modern Romans. Daughter Tosca (Valeria Cavalli) picks him up to take him to Florence where she lives. Tosca is a woman beset with pressures: unbeknownst to her father, she is a single parent; to support herself and her infant she works as a part-time actress
and lingerie model. Not the glamorous picture she has presented to her father.
The next stop is Milan, home of Guglielmo (Roberto Nobile), a musician in the symphony. Traveling by train Matteo meets a stranger (Michele Morgan) who's traveling on an excursion with a senior citizen group. They hit it off and share confidences. He proudly tells her of his family. Each child
was named after a character in an opera, he explains, because of his love of music. They spend some very happy hours together after he joins their group.
But Matteo leaves once again to meet with Guglielmo. Guglielmo's son Antonello (Fabio Iellini), a troubled teenager, informs his grandfather that he has very little contact with his family--they all go their separate ways. A pregnant girlfriend is the uppermost problem on his mind. Despite these
pressures the grandfather and grandson enjoy each other's company.
The last leg of the journey is to visit Norma (Norma Martelli), who lives in Torino. Her life is no bed of roses, but Norma presents a smiling face to her father. She is working in a menial job to support herself and her young son, her marriage is on the rocks and the future looks bleak.
Matteo is a keen observer of all he has seen. He goes along with his children's charades and in a dream sequence even confronts them: they approach him as youngsters, explaining that they wanted to shield him from their troubles--that is why each of them has obscured the truth.
In Rome the family reunion is a washout. Canio and Guglielmo attend and the truth comes out that Alvaro had committed suicide. The shock of this news puts Matteo into the hospital. There at his bedside stand all of his remaining children. He can only wish his father-to-be grandson good luck.
Returning home a wiser and sadder man, he reports at his wife's graveside that the cities he visited were full of strife but their children were just fine, "Everybody's fine, " he says, "Everybody's fine."
EVERYBODY'S FINE is a film of operatic dimensions. A sweeping tale of Italy and its inhabitants in which the anxieties of modern life are fully reflected. Tornatore offers us a very personal view of a father's dream and his awakening, lacing his film with the memory of childhood and the dreams
parents have for their children, so often unrealized. The ensemble acting is expertly handled and the cinematography by Blasco Giurato has moments of magic, with a musical score to match. (Adult situations, nudity.) leave a comment
