Roseanna's Grave

The story is set in a small Italian town. Roseanna's heart is failing and all she wants is to be buried beside her daughter in the village cemetery. The cemetery is nearly full, the man who owns the neighbouring land will not sell, and only a handful of plots remain. So her husband Marcello sets about keeping everyone in town alive: rushing to the sick, breaking up fights, heading off anything dangerous. Roseanna, meanwhile, is thinking about what Marcello will do once she is gone. The premise is wide open to black comedy and the film never quite goes there, holding a soft tone somewhere between comedy and sentiment instead. Watching Jean Reno play a guileless, tender man is the main draw. Mercedes Ruehl takes the dying woman without a trace of self-pity. It was shot in Italy with a largely English-speaking cast.