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Tribeca Reviews: Loose Cannons (Mine Vaganti)

Posted by: Natasia Rose on May 2, 2010.

: Image by almcalabria via Flickr

05/02/2010- by Natasia Langfelder

Foreign films burned up the critics best choice picks at the Tribeca film festival and Loose Cannons, a wild card from Italy, is no exception. The movie is light in tone, but filled with the dramatization and passion that characterizes Italian culture. Tommaso (Riccardo Scamarcio) left his small hometown of Lecce to pursue his dream of becoming a writer in Rome. He is deeply in love with his live in partner, Marco and the two have built a life together. Tommaso is called back to Lecce by his brother and father, who want him to help run the family pasta business. Tommaso decides to go back and come clean about his sexuality to his family, who he expects to disown him, then head back to Marco in Rome. Tomasso makes the mistake of confiding this plan to his brother, who steals Tommaso’s thunder by coming out first! Tommaso’s father has a heart attack, leading Tommaso to believe that if he tells him he is a gay writer, it will kill him. So he stays in Lecce and begins to lead the life his father imagined for him…right down to beginning a confusing romance with a woman, Alba. Alba is beautiful, smart and a cutthroat business woman with a taste for amazing shoes. Tommaso first meets Alba when she keys an ex-boyfriend’s car. They slowly get to know each other and Tommaso begins to fall for her, even while telling her that he is in love with Marco. This storyline is unique in that it exposes a part of homosexuality we don’t talk about, sometimes it is about the person more than the sex.

The film’s background characters, Tommaso’s family are funny and believable. There is also a troupe of Tommaso’s gay friends, who are out, proud and hilarious. This isn’t director and screenwriter Ferzan Ozpetek first time at the ball, he has directed several popular Italian films and Loose Cannons is a polished gem that sparkled at the festival. Ozpetek also spoke at the screening, he wanted to highlight the issue of discrimination against gays by their own families. When one woman asked him if homophobia was still so rampant in Italy that a family would disown a son, he replied that homophobia is everywhere and really depends more on the character and make-up of the individuals and families than on geographical location. There are families in Italy that would accept a gay son with open arms and others that would have heart attacks.

The film differs from American movies the most, in that the ending isn’t cut and dried. You don’t know if Tommaso is going to stay with Marco, you don’t know if he is going to up the ante with Alba or if the three of them will be able to make something work. What you do know, is that nothing in life is certain and you need to choose your own path, the one that works for you and don’t live your life for other people; you only get one and you need to make it beautiful. This movie is a must see.