The film, which is directed by Matteo Garrone (The Embalmer), could do with a bit more plot: It doesn't resolve so much as collapse in utter desolation.
First Love(Primo amore)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Italy · 2004
1h 40m
Director Matteo Garrone
Starring Vitaliano Trevisan, Michela Cescon, Roberto Comacchio, Alberto Rey
Genre Drama, Romance
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Vittorio is looking for a woman who matches his ideal. Through a classified ad he meets Sonia, a sweet, pleasant, intelligent girl. However, she weighs 125 pounds -- which according to Vittorio is way too much. A goldsmith by trade, Vittorio is obsessed with the desire to shape Sonia's body and mind as does a fire with gold. Almost imperceptibly Sonia becomes a passive participant and the relationship grows into a reciprocal masochistic game. When the two lovers isolate themselves in a country house in the Veneto hills, they dangerously lose touch with reality and the rest of the world.
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What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Probing the trust-based power games of a sadomasochistic dynamic, the movie is a reasonably thoughtful study of obsessive love.
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
The movie exaggerates a common dynamic between men and women.
The atmosphere is once again black, creepy and unsettlingly elegant, lending this twisted tale of psychological dominance and submission a patina of anxiety and dread.
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
An elegantly told tale of obsession that, in failing to take on any larger meaning, rapidly becomes depressing to watch.
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
All setup and no payoff.
Wonderfully quirky love story.
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