30 Second Bottom Line: While on vacation as part of a tour group with her family, a woman is left behind at a rest stop because she stays too long in the bathroom. After missing another bus and a train, she is away from home for a few days. Possibly having a taste of real freedom for the first time as an adult, she must decide if she will go home or commit to relationships with new people she has met.
Story Line: We join Rosalba (Licia Maglietta) and her family as they visit ancient ruins with their tour guide. When they leave on the bus, we learn that her husband Salvo (Matteo Febo) is self-absorbed in his plumbing business and their teenage son Nic (Tiziano Cucchiarelli) uses his headphones to listen to music that puts him in a world of his own.
While at a rest stop, one thing leads to another, resulting in a prolonged stay in the bathroom for Rosalba. Everyone is so into themselves that no one notices that she is not on the bus when it leaves. Rosalba calls her husband on his cell phone and he is both surprised and angry to find out that she was left behind. She is to stay there until he comes back to pick her up. After waiting two hours, she decides to hitch a ride. She spends the night in Venice in a clap trap hotel, which is closing for business the next day. She stays there because the price is right and her funds are very limited.
For dinner that evening she goes to a nearby restaurant where no hot food is served because the cook is sick. She meets an emotionally distant waiter, Fernando (Bruno Ganz), who tells her the best food in Italy is Chinese. The next day she misses her bus and needs to stay at the hotel again. Since it's closed and she is clueless on what to do with her marginal funds, she goes back to the restaurant and asks Fernando if he knows a place she can afford to stay. He doesn't, and after she pleads with him, he reluctantly agrees to let her spend the night at his apartment.
Fernando is a sad person who was not a good father to his son. He has a grandson who lives with his mother (not Fernando's daughter), whom he loves deeply and walks to school each day. He fears that his son, who is the boy's father, is repeating his sins. Fernando's son is so out of the picture that he never makes an appearance in the movie.
Rosalba has a green thumb, and when walking around Venice, she decides to apply for a job in a flower shop owned by Fermo (Felice Andreasi). He sees every situation in life being related to a particular flower. His passion for flowers and love of life causes a platonic bonding between Rosalba and him.
Salvo is outraged when he learns Rosalba has decided to take a few days vacation on her own. This does not prevent him from spending time with his mistress Ketty (Vitalba Andrea), however. When he asks her to iron his shirts, she is quick to tell him she is his mistress, not his wife. That sums up Rosalba's role in the family, and why she is taking advantage of her unplanned and extended vacation.
Rosalba becomes friends with Grazia (Marina Massironi) who lives in the same apartment building as Fernando. Grazia does massages in her apartment to make a living. Although she is independent and on the surface a cheery person, she can't seem to find a man to have a long-term relationship with that works for her. Like Fernando, she too is an unhappy person.
As each day passes, Salvo becomes angrier about the lack of "obedience" of his wife and that fact that she is not around to iron his shirts and clean the house. He hires Costantino (Giuseppe Battiston) as a detective to find her. In the process of Costantino's search, profound changes in relationships occur for everyone in the story.
Tell Me More About It: What do you do when you suddenly realize that you are not happy with your existence? Do you honor your family commitments or should you take a new path in your life?
Bread and Tulips symbolizes substance in relationships. Bread is basic survival and tulips relate to the human spirit. Minds take a relationship, which has a thread, and turn it into a rope, a lifeline. The film is about relationships on many levels. When Adele (Tatiana Lepore) brings her son Eliseo (Ludovico Paladin) to visit his grandfather Fernando, she meets Rosalba and Grazia. Adele is not too thrilled with either of them. One is living with the grandfather and the other is seen as an unskilled trades-person to look down on.
After a few weeks of being away from home, Rosalba must decide if she is to end her fling and return to her family. This leads to a soul-searching process for just about everyone in the film. Things turn out in ways that one could not predict. But how many of the major events in our lives are predictable? This was the sixth of seven films in the Talk Cinema series, and while each film was outstanding in its own right, this was not my top pick; however, this was the only film that received spontaneous applause as soon as The End came on the screen.
One of the things that I like about this Italian movie is the fun it pokes at itself in saying that the best food in Italy is Chinese. Other than possibly French cuisine, ask anyone what type of food is the best for upscale dining, and they'll probably say Italian. It's certainly the most popular.
This film was a big hit in Italy, winning many awards. It's also the first film made there since Life is Beautiful to really get peoples' attention. This one swings for the soft spot in family relationships rather than showing the strength of the human spirit in the midst of a major event like the holocaust. It's more fun to watch and I highly recommend it. It's a film that like the TV show, Once and Again, shows a woman over 40 as being both sexy and full of life.
Your heart will be filled with joy and you will be encouraged to take a quick look at where you are in your life, and ask what if any changes should be made. It sounds therapeutic and you can count on me, that it's a lot more fun and less costly than going to see a shrink.
DVD