From Italy, with love (and pain), Cesare Furesi's WHO WILL SAVE THE ROSES?

For a film as poetic, elliptical, elusive and often beautiful as the new Italian movie, WHO WILL SAVE THE ROSES? -- from co-writer and director Cesare Furesi -- the words that lead off this film are surprising: "Dedicated to that big piece of shit of my father." TrustMovies suspects that the English translation here may be a bit off, and that the second "of" in the dedication might better be replaced with a comma. Either way, it does seem clear that Signore Furesi (shown below) is not a huge fan of his dad.

What follows this somewhat jaw-dropping dedication, however, is such a surprising and lovely story that I suspect U.S. movie-goers who appreciate foreign films and oddball tales may take quite a liking to this sweet, sad and finally take-no-prisoners endeavor. Its finale is as uncompromising as any I've seen in a long while and goes up against such a long-held taboo -- especially in its native Italy -- that I imagine the audience reactions there were rather mixed.

The very leisurely beginning put us in touch with an elderly male couple -- the amazing and quite delightful Giulio (Carlo della Piani, below, right) and his bed-ridden partner Claudio (Lando Buzzanca, at left) -- and their unusual everyday life, in which the aged and himself infirm Giulio does everything from feeding and caring for his partner to mowing the lawn on their rather large-but-gone-to-seed estate.

Into their life returns Giulio's estranged daughter, Valeria (the beautiful Caterina Murino, below), who, though still angry at her father, proves to have remained very close to his partner, Claudio.

On the heels of her return comes that of her son (the men's grandson) Marco (Antonio Careddu, below), along with his girlfriend, with both of them soon involved in the lives of the elder set.

As for the usual back story, history and exposition that most family dramas would give us, Signore Furesi pretty much ignores all this. Oh, we get bits and pieces, but this hardly adds up to enough to deeply involve us. Instead, that involvement comes through the artful use of a kind of visual and verbal poetry that engages our mind and heart via the beauty of the well-chosen words and beautifully composed, often stunning images.

These includes sunsets (above and below) -- the film is set in Sardinia, which, as shown here looks to be a most beautiful and welcoming place -- which come into play not only for their beauty but as a "hook" for investors to help resuscitate an old family hotel (shades of the recent Mamma Mia! movie sequel). 

Gambling -- as art, vice and life -- also figures in the bizarre plot, as we learn that Giulio once allowed that very bad habit to intrude too heavily in his and his lover's life and finances. Now, here it comes again, this time as a possible savior, thanks to a wealthy old friend who owns the local casino (how good to see Philippe Leroy, shown below, left, in his senior years).

Finally, however, it is the performances of the two old men, especially that of the amazing Signore della Piane (above, right, and below), that brings the movie to life and holds it that way. Giulio's character -- forever dithering but helping, hoping against hope, using every means at his increasingly emptying disposal, love pouring out of every pore -- proves so memorable and amazing that you never doubt the unbreakable bond that exists between these two men.

There's a high-stakes poker game (below), the results of which question what is truth (in a manner than our current idiot President could never begin to appreciate or understand).  By the time we reach that finale, I suspect that anyone who has lived and loved hard enough and long enough will be able to fully savor the decision that has been reached.

I've often said that it is Italy that makes the best films about family. Here is yet another fine example. From Corallo Film, Who Will Save the Roses? arrived on VOD here in the USA this past Friday, November 9, and will have its American theatrical debut in the Los Angeles area at Laemmle's new Glendale theater this coming Friday, November 16.

The photo of the director, second from top, 

is by Camilla Morandi and comes 

courtesy of Getty Images.

Pat Collins' SONG OF GRANITE gives us -- very elliptically -- the story of Joe Heaney and traditional Irish singing

Filmed with the kind of breathtaking black-and-white cinematography that will have aficionados drooling, this year's Irish entry into the Best Foreign Language Film sweepstakes is a movie entitled SONG OF GRANITE, directed and co-written by Pat Collins, a documentary filmmaker who in 2012 gave us his first narrative movie, Silence, and has now come up with this new one, which traces the life, parental history and career of a man named Joe Heaney, of whom TrustMovies had never heard but who was evidently known as a great singer of traditional Irish songs.

Mr. Collins, pictured at right, possesses a highly poetic sensibility, and he and his cinematographer (Richard Kendrick) have contrived a movie so steeped in gorgeous images -- there's one, of a father and son sitting in front of a stone wall and doorway, that I could look at, I think, maybe forever -- that you don't want to look away from the screen for even a moment.

The poetry goes beyond mere images, as Collins also tells his tale by moving back and forth in time and and also by interspersing archival images with those he and Kendrick has more recently created. At film's end he even joins the older Heaney man with his younger self across both time and a lovely outdoor landscape.

If only Song of Granite's aural qualities were anywhere near its visual ones.

Granted, I am not the best person to judge this, since I knew next to nothing about traditional Irish singing going into the movie (if I've ever hear much of it previously, I most likely and immediately tuned it out).

Coming out of this film, I am most definitely not a fan. I find this particular musical genre consistently dour, repetitive and an absolute drudge to hear.

I would estimate that there is at least as much song here as there is dialog (maybe twice as much, unless I am letting my distaste for the genre get the better of me). At times I felt like turning off the sound completely, but then I'd have missed some of the English dialog (much of the film's is spoken in Irish/Gaelic, I am guessing, with accompanying English subtitles).

Eventually I had to content myself with those visuals and with the interesting performances of the cast Collins has assembled, beginning with that of Colm Seoighe, above, as the youngest of the Joes, and especially that of Michael O'Chonfhlaola (three photos up, at microphone) as the adult-to-middle-aged Joe, who has a beautifully sculpted face that seems designed to please the camera.

Because Collins jumps around so much, but does so poetically, while we don't always get the details, we can follow both the story and the emotions it and its characters convey. If you've a taste for traditional Irish singing, by all means see this film. If you're a novice to the genre, Song of Granite is certainly one place to start learning. And if you're not a fan, well then, you know what you're in for.

From Oscilloscope Laboratories and running 104 minutes, the movie opens in New York City at Film Forum this Wednesday, November 15; in Los Angeles on December 8 at Laemmle's Monica Film Center; and in Santa Fe on December 29 at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

Short Take: Blu-ray/DVDebut for David Gordon Green and Paul Logan's poetic MANGLEHORN

More than anything else, the movie MANGLEHORN -- directed by David Gordon Green, written by Paul Logan and starring Al Pacino -- is a heavy-duty character study. Not much happens, which will keep away those Pacino fans who demand action and bloodshed, via the kind of Al they know and love from Scarface. Instead, the film is super quiet, slow-paced, and nicely poetic in its conception and execution. Pacino plays a small-town Texas locksmith who's been pining over a lost love for so long that he can't seem to break the spell of despair that hangs over him.

His fast-track, semi-sleazy "investment" type son (a fine Chris Messina, above) and his maybe/sort of might-be girlfriend who works at the local bank (Holly Hunter, below) make up most of the rest of the cast.

Pacino brings his savvy elder self to the proceedings, and he is, as usual these days (The Humbling, Danny Collins) very, very good. There is an "arc" here (you might even call it finally-feel-good), but it's a slow one. Recommended for Pacino/Hunter/Messina and Green fans who appreciate "character" and small-town tales of real, "problemed" people, Manglehorn is a lot closer to arthouse than to mainstream.

From IFC Films and running 97 minutes, Manglehorn hits the streets on DVD and Blu-ray, today, Tuesday, October 6 -- for purchase or rental.