Giovanni Veronesi’s 2005 Manuale d’Amore is a collection of separate but interconnected love stories played by an impressive list of famous Italian actors and actresses. The first story is called “l’innamoramento” (falling in love), followed by “la crisi” (the crisis), then “il tradimento” (the betrayal), and finally “l’abbandono” (the abandonment).
“L’innamoramento”, the first and perhaps most entertaining of the four stories, is about Tommaso (Silvio Muccino), a 20 something year old on a mission to court Giulia (Jasmine Trinca) an interpreter by profession. In every story an animal (a dog in almost every case) somehow plays a role in the lives of these couples. Tommaso sees Giulia for the first time after a black cat passes in front of him. After a short altercation, the animal once again brings them together as Tomasso attempts to reconcile with Giulia for his rude behavior from the day before. Tommaso’s friend Dante (Francesco Mandelli) offers the most laughs with his clever comments and cunning performance. On Christmas, after Giulia has given a new puppy to Tommaso, he proposes to her. The happiest of the couples, Giulia and Tommaso end up on their honeymoon which is where the story of Marco (Sergio Rubini) and Barbara (Margherita Buy) begins.
In “la crisi”, as their story is titled, Marco and Barbara find their marriage in a slump. Marco, the husband who has “cambiato” (changed) no longer appeals to his wife Barbara and vice versa. She finds it harder to tolerate his constant absence and insensitive ways. After their interesting evenings with a couple who has just had a baby, they realize that they are at two different points in life. The animal, a dog in this case, once again plays as a symbol of control: that is, he who gets the dog alongside him wins. After a night of rebellion, Barbara finds herself in a park with Marco trying to sort out their differences but their relationship seems to be collapsing. As they are speaking Ornella (Luciana Littizzetto), a municipal police officer, is having Marc
o’s car towed which is where the next story of “il tradimento” begins.
Ornella and her husband Gabriele (Dino Abbrescia) seem to have a normal marriage. With her audacious humor Ornella kindly reminds the audience about the statistics of the men and women who cheat on their partner. Their young son Andrea takes part in a class play and during the play Ornella sees Gabriele kissing the teacher. Repulsed and hurt Ornella, now bitter and spiteful towards all men, abuses her power as municipal officer to get back at the teacher and also men in general. After a one night stand with the upstairs neighbor, Ornella finds herself at the front door of her husband’s apartment. Although she doesn’t knock, the dog senses her presence and begins to bark which brings about their reconcilement. Goffredo (Carlo Verdone), already having had an altercation with Ornella, brings the film to the final story of “l’abbandono”.
After nine years of marriage Goffredo finds himself abbandonato by his wife Margherita who gave him no motive as to why she left. Desperately wanting his wife back (and also his life back) he takes desperate measures. He goes to a bookstore where he buys the abandonment part of an audio book collection he sees in the window, Manuale d’Amore, to help him overcome his obstacles. After a hilarious attempt to mix business with pleasure Goffredo still finds himself alone. He goes to see his mother in law and is welcomed by none other than his dog. After their conversation Goffredo takes his first real steps to moving on without Margherita. He meets Livia (Anita Caprioli) on the beach and little does he know that she is the voice behind his audiobook. After explaining his story the romance between them seems to bud and that is where the story ends but then again begins.
All the stories fit in nicely together and complete the circle. A true fact of life; falling in love is the soundest and happiest part of a relationship but as the film explains, things don’t stay the same for long. A box office hit, Veronesi’s Manuale d’Amore keeps the audience laughing, but what does it teach? Perhaps it’s best if we ask the dogs!
“L’innamoramento”, the first and perhaps most entertaining of the four stories, is about Tommaso (Silvio Muccino), a 20 something year old on a mission to court Giulia (Jasmine Trinca) an interpreter by profession. In every story an animal (a dog in almost every case) somehow plays a role in the lives of these couples. Tommaso sees Giulia for the first time after a black cat passes in front of him. After a short altercation, the animal once again brings them together as Tomasso attempts to reconcile with Giulia for his rude behavior from the day before. Tommaso’s friend Dante (Francesco Mandelli) offers the most laughs with his clever comments and cunning performance. On Christmas, after Giulia has given a new puppy to Tommaso, he proposes to her. The happiest of the couples, Giulia and Tommaso end up on their honeymoon which is where the story of Marco (Sergio Rubini) and Barbara (Margherita Buy) begins.
In “la crisi”, as their story is titled, Marco and Barbara find their marriage in a slump. Marco, the husband who has “cambiato” (changed) no longer appeals to his wife Barbara and vice versa. She finds it harder to tolerate his constant absence and insensitive ways. After their interesting evenings with a couple who has just had a baby, they realize that they are at two different points in life. The animal, a dog in this case, once again plays as a symbol of control: that is, he who gets the dog alongside him wins. After a night of rebellion, Barbara finds herself in a park with Marco trying to sort out their differences but their relationship seems to be collapsing. As they are speaking Ornella (Luciana Littizzetto), a municipal police officer, is having Marc
o’s car towed which is where the next story of “il tradimento” begins.Ornella and her husband Gabriele (Dino Abbrescia) seem to have a normal marriage. With her audacious humor Ornella kindly reminds the audience about the statistics of the men and women who cheat on their partner. Their young son Andrea takes part in a class play and during the play Ornella sees Gabriele kissing the teacher. Repulsed and hurt Ornella, now bitter and spiteful towards all men, abuses her power as municipal officer to get back at the teacher and also men in general. After a one night stand with the upstairs neighbor, Ornella finds herself at the front door of her husband’s apartment. Although she doesn’t knock, the dog senses her presence and begins to bark which brings about their reconcilement. Goffredo (Carlo Verdone), already having had an altercation with Ornella, brings the film to the final story of “l’abbandono”.
After nine years of marriage Goffredo finds himself abbandonato by his wife Margherita who gave him no motive as to why she left. Desperately wanting his wife back (and also his life back) he takes desperate measures. He goes to a bookstore where he buys the abandonment part of an audio book collection he sees in the window, Manuale d’Amore, to help him overcome his obstacles. After a hilarious attempt to mix business with pleasure Goffredo still finds himself alone. He goes to see his mother in law and is welcomed by none other than his dog. After their conversation Goffredo takes his first real steps to moving on without Margherita. He meets Livia (Anita Caprioli) on the beach and little does he know that she is the voice behind his audiobook. After explaining his story the romance between them seems to bud and that is where the story ends but then again begins.
All the stories fit in nicely together and complete the circle. A true fact of life; falling in love is the soundest and happiest part of a relationship but as the film explains, things don’t stay the same for long. A box office hit, Veronesi’s Manuale d’Amore keeps the audience laughing, but what does it teach? Perhaps it’s best if we ask the dogs!
“IMDb – The Internet Movie Database.” Manuale d’amore. 2005. IMDb. 01 April 2008. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417944/>
Links:
http://www.manualedamore.it/
http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=n2NFXy-Niyk
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