The Legendary Giulia and Other Miracles

Three men in their forties have each wrecked their own lives. Diego sells cars in Turin and decides to drop everything after his father dies; Fausto is a telemarketer drowning in debt; Claudio's inherited grocery has failed and his marriage is ending. Together they buy a ruined farm in the south and try to turn it into a guesthouse. Then a man arrives asking for protection money. The subject is not the rural dream but four incompetent men learning to live with the consequences of their own decisions. The event at the film's midpoint hardens the comedy abruptly, and what holds the group together stops being a shared fantasy and becomes a shared crime. The form belongs to the Italian comedy tradition: crowded dialogue, regional accents and humour built on types. The thing that gives the film its name is an old Alfa Romeo Giulia found on the property. The source is Fabio Bartolomei's first novel, Giulia 1300 e altri miracoli, published in 2011. The film took four million euros at the Italian box office and won two David di Donatello and two Nastro d'Argento awards. Edoardo Leo directs and acts; Luca Argentero, Stefano Fresi and Claudio Amendola are in the cast. Who it is for: viewers who like Italian social comedy. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a consistent tone; the film keeps swinging between comedy and crime.