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My Mother's Smile(L'ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre))

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Italy · 2002
1h 45m
Director Marco Bellocchio
Starring Sergio Castellitto, Jacqueline Lustig, Chiara Conti, Gigio Alberti
Genre Drama

A celebrated painter receives a visit from a cardinal's assistant, who informs him that his mother could become a saint.

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63

New York Post by

A thoughtful, provocative film that understandably ruffled a few feathers in its native Italy -- the portrayal of the church is far less than beatific.

70

Variety by David Rooney

In the central role, Castellitto's powerfully focused performance manages to keep the complex drama grounded.

70

The A.V. Club by Keith Phipps

As absurd as the situation gets--and the film occasionally launches into surreal asides that only heighten the absurdity--director and star both keep it grounded in the situation's emotions.

80

Village Voice by Leslie Camhi

"A very odd thriller" is how Italian director Marco Bellocchio describes My Mother's Smile, his uncannily beautiful and deeply humanist exploration of the nightmares that resurface from a Roman atheist's Catholic childhood.

70

The New Republic by Stanley Kauffmann

At the last, My Mother's Smile conveys that, if Bellocchio is just doggedly hanging on to a career, he is still able to make us feel nostalgia for those high Italian days.

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