The Family Friend

L'amico di Famiglia tells the story of Geremia, a tailor that is also a lender. He always pretends to be a friendly guy, he let all the families that he lends money thinking that he is "a friend of the family" but it's all part of an act. He pretends to be sympathetic but his intentions are always mean, he is selfish and very greedy. He still lives with his mother and he is a very weird man. I guess the main message of this film is that we can't live our entire lives just from appearances. We can't live without money but money will not bring us all of the happiness in the world. Lust, greed, obsession are present in Geremia's "The Heart of Gold" like he entitled himself to be, and just like in all of the people that come to ask him for money. Once again Paolo Sorrentino really knows how to work with a camera, with an excellent cinematography, appropriate soundtrack and very interesting characters like Geremia very well performed by Giacomo Rizzo. It's more than proved that Sorrentino likes in a subtle way to leave us hidden messages. His films are very symbolic and deep, with important messages to deliver. This man knows what he is doing. It's just not style, it's a lot of substance too. Definitely a very interesting film, but I have to confess that it was the one that I'm connected less with. I recommend it anyway!