Perfect Strangers (2016)

There are many rotten aspects in modern-day Italy and I consider the cinematic art to be one of them as the majority of Italian films hitting the screen nowadays are pure trash, reason why this is the one category I tend to avoid (the most). There are, however, some exceptions now and then, that one film that, either because of its cast — usually Alessandro Gassmann — or its trailer, I'm interested in seeing. Paolo Genovese's Perfect Strangers (Italian: Perfetti sconosciuti) falls into the latter category as the trailer was very funny. Imagine my surprise when I found myself watching a funny, entertaining but also very clever and thought-provoking comedy-drama.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers (2010)

It's been seven, maybe eight years since I first saw The Solitude of Prime Numbers. I hadn't read the novel at the time as I was not into reading, I was expecting a film about math, I was disappointed because it wasn't, and kind of hated the film. This year I finally read the book and, while it still has its flaws, I enjoyed it, so I decided to give the film another chance. Saverio Costanzo directed it after all, I loved his miniseries My Brilliant Friend, so how bad could this film be, right? Apparently a lot. 

The story follows Alice (Alba Rohrwacher) and Mattia (Luca Marinelli), two exceptional and yet inadequate people, rejected by their peers. Both traumatized as children (Martina Albano and Tommaso Neri), they meet while teenagers (Arianna Nastro and Vittorio Lomartire) and become friends, only to lose contact when Mattia accepts a three-year college scholarship in Germany.