Sara D'Amario Movies

With Quiet Chaos (Caos Calmo), acclaimed Italian helmer Nanni Moretti steps away from his standard directorial role to essay the lead and co-author the script in a gentle psychological drama directed by Antonello Grimaldi. Moretti stars as Pietro, a film executive whose life takes an irreversible and devastating turn one fateful morning. During a trip to the beach with his brother, Pietro's path intersects with that of a woman, Eleonora (Isabella Ferrari), who is drowning in the ocean; horrified, Pietro rushes in to save her. He subsequently returns home only to discover that his wife, Lara, just died in a nasty falling accident; devastated to the core, this nascent widower must make the necessary psychological accommodations to adjust to life as a single parent, with sole responsibility for raising his ten-year-old daughter, Claudia (Blu Yoshimi). Almost instinctively, as a reaction to Lara's death, Pietro opts to sit and wait for his daughter to finish school each day (in a park across from the school), in lieu of abandoning her to his own priorities and commitments. This means that the fellow's colleagues in the film industry must, by necessity, come to do business with him in the park. Through it all, Pietro remains silently dumbfounded that the tragedy itself hasn't shaken him more, that the grief (the "quiet chaos" of the title) is subtly agonizing instead of grossly traumatizing and debilitating. Nevertheless, he ultimately begins to approach a full realization and acceptance of his loss, and gains an enhanced awareness of himself and others from the potentially crippling events thrust into his path. Valeria Golino (Rain Man) co-stars; Roman Polanski appears in a cameo as one of Pietro's industry colleagues. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Mainstream Italian filmmaker Alessandro D'Alatri directs the light romantic comedy Casomai (If By Chance). Thirtysomething ad executive Tommaso (Italian TV star Fabio Volo) gets married to upscale makeup artist Stefania (Stefania Rocca). In a rural church outside of Milan, the priest (Gennaro Nunziante) questions the couple and the congregation about the lasting power of relationships. Told in a series of flashbacks and future sequences, the upper-class couple struggles with the social pressure of friends, career, and family members. Their love is further tested with parenthood, infidelity, and separation. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi