Emanuele Crialese's debut feature is an engaging look at culture clash, mid-'90s style, in New York City. The tale of two immigrants, one Italian and one Indian, who must cope with supremely complicated circumstances in love and work, it is a loose, ramshackle work that nonetheless displays extremely promising talent both in front of and behind the camera.
Director Crialese and star Vincenzo Amato should garner significant attention as the pic makes the festival circuit. It recently received its world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival.
Apu (Ajay Naidu), from India, survives by such means as selling himself as a guinea pig for the testing of new drugs and dubbing ecstatic moans for porn films. Antonio Amato) is an Italian who waits tables at a restaurant while also being the boy-toy of a haughty and wealthy art dealer. Both of their romantic lives soon change: Apu greets his arranged bride Devi (Anjalee Deshpande), newly arrived from India and whom he hasn't seen since she was 4, while Antonio falls for a radio talk-show host who, in the best romantic comedy fashion, is highly resistant to his charms.
The film is less dependent on plot, which here is tenuous at best, than on humorous and engaging anecdotes delineating the characters' tribulations as they struggle to define their strange circumstances. Fortunately, they are more than engaging enough to hold our interest, and director-screenwriter Crialese has such an adept, unforced style that any resistance on our part simply melts away. The scenes have a deadpan comic rhythm that is highly amusing, and the cast members all display an engaging charm. Amato is particularly endearing, displaying a charismatic yet relaxed naturalness in front of the camera that indicates a real possibility for future stardom.
ONCE WE WERE STRANGERS
Acquario Films
Director-screenwriter:Emanuele Crialese
Producers:John P. Scholz, Emanuele Crialese
Executive producers:Raymond De Marco, Philip Monaco, Eric Emanuel
Director of photography:Sam Selva
Editor:Simona Paggi
Color/stereo
Cast:
Antonio:Vincenzo Amato
Ellen:Jessica W. Gould
Devi:Anjalee Deshpande
Apu:Ajay Naidu
Natasha:Lynn Cohen
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Director Crialese and star Vincenzo Amato should garner significant attention as the pic makes the festival circuit. It recently received its world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival.
Apu (Ajay Naidu), from India, survives by such means as selling himself as a guinea pig for the testing of new drugs and dubbing ecstatic moans for porn films. Antonio Amato) is an Italian who waits tables at a restaurant while also being the boy-toy of a haughty and wealthy art dealer. Both of their romantic lives soon change: Apu greets his arranged bride Devi (Anjalee Deshpande), newly arrived from India and whom he hasn't seen since she was 4, while Antonio falls for a radio talk-show host who, in the best romantic comedy fashion, is highly resistant to his charms.
The film is less dependent on plot, which here is tenuous at best, than on humorous and engaging anecdotes delineating the characters' tribulations as they struggle to define their strange circumstances. Fortunately, they are more than engaging enough to hold our interest, and director-screenwriter Crialese has such an adept, unforced style that any resistance on our part simply melts away. The scenes have a deadpan comic rhythm that is highly amusing, and the cast members all display an engaging charm. Amato is particularly endearing, displaying a charismatic yet relaxed naturalness in front of the camera that indicates a real possibility for future stardom.
ONCE WE WERE STRANGERS
Acquario Films
Director-screenwriter:Emanuele Crialese
Producers:John P. Scholz, Emanuele Crialese
Executive producers:Raymond De Marco, Philip Monaco, Eric Emanuel
Director of photography:Sam Selva
Editor:Simona Paggi
Color/stereo
Cast:
Antonio:Vincenzo Amato
Ellen:Jessica W. Gould
Devi:Anjalee Deshpande
Apu:Ajay Naidu
Natasha:Lynn Cohen
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 11/6/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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