Retrospective: A/R andata+ritorno / Round Trip (2004)

[Kam-Hung Soh]

Just before Christmas, Dante (Libero De Rienzo), a bicycle courier, 
decides to leave Turin to escape his dingy flat and the 20 000 Euros he 
owes to local gangster Skorpio (Michele Di Maurio). At the same time, 
flight stewardess Nina's (Vanessa Incontrada) relationship with her 
boyfriend is on shaky ground. When she becomes stranded in Turin due to 
a general strike and is unable to find a hotel room, Dante's mentor, the 
kindly Tolstoj (Kabir Bedi), offers her Dante's vacant room. As she 
pieces together Dante through his notes and books, she falls in love 
with him.

This film teases the audience by keeping the potential lovers apart for 
as long as possible. Then having brought them together, poses the 
question of how will they stay together given, in this case, Dante's 
immediate and fatal debt problem? Writer-director Marco Ponti solves it 
by introducing a heist element into the final third of the film.

A genial and light-hearted film. Remember to stay around for the scenes 
inserted in the trailing credits.

Italian with English subtitles
3 out of 5 stars.
27 February 2009
Kam-Hung Soh
http://morvahouse.blogspot.com