FAMILY DIARY (Cronaca familiare) 1963. Valerio Zurlini's low key chamber piece about a Writer (Marcello Mastroainni) and his Brother (Jacques Perrin). Set mainly in WWII era Florence, the drama is notable mainly for Mastroainni's performance and Cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno's burnished camerawork.
Based on co-screenwriter Vasco Pratolini's semi-autobiographical novel, the film makes some odd structural choices in how it tells it's story. There are really only four characters of note and crucial parts of the chronology (including a wife and child) are passed over in favor of a few long intimate scenes. This wouldn't be as much of an issue if one felt the full weight of their life stories in those sequences, but, it feels incomplete. Sketchy narration* tries to fill the gaps, but, its not a proper substitute.
What does work are the performances not only of Mastroainni and Perrin, but of the single-name moniker actress Sylvie as their grandmother. Her scenes provide some of the emotional attachment that is lacking elsewhere. The setting during the rise of fascism and the war is also curiously left in the background.
FAMILY DIARY is worth a look for fans of the great lead actor but, it's only partly successful.
* The U.S. prints curiously dub the Narration in English AND subtitle them at the same time! Further, the spoken narration doesn't always match the subtitles. A real botch job.
* The U.S. prints curiously dub the Narration in English AND subtitle them at the same time! Further, the spoken narration doesn't always match the subtitles. A real botch job.