Product Description

The Italian town of Genova provides a fresh start for Joe and his two young daughters, a family seeking new lives after the sudden death of their mother. While Kelly, explores the underbelly of this mysterious new world, Mary, has just seen the ghost of her mother wandering the streets.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2643 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-07-13
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

Synopsis
Colin Firth (BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE) stars as a recently-widowed man who decides to relocate to Italy so that he and his daughters can overcome the grief of losing their beloved wife and mother. At first, the move rekindles their love for one another but soon things take a decidedly strange turn when one of the daughters begins to see the apparition of her dead mother and the other discovers sexual awakening...

Customer Reviews

Delightful setting, but drama disappoints
On the cover of this DVD, "Genova" is described as "an eerily effective supernatural thriller". Don't you believe it. I spent most of this film clock-watching and thinking that after 20, 30, 60 ... minutes something must be about to happen.

The film is visually delightful: in fact I would go so far as to say that the real star is the city of Genova (Genoa) itself. The standard of acting is high, but the drama never really takes off.

So unless your idea of "thrilling" is a teenager riding on the back of her new Italian boyfriend's motor scooter or your idea of "supernatural" is a child lighting a candle for her dead mother, you should give this one a miss. The only people who should be giving this film 5 stars are the Italian Tourist Board.

a portrait of a city and a touching tale
This movie is a great portrait for wonderful, misterious, city: Genova.The culturally rich Italian city is the backdrop for one of Colin Firth's finest roles as the desolate dad who struggles to console his younger daughter who was inadvertently responsible for his wife's demise, and her older sister, whose grief manifests itself in angry rebellion.

Michael Winterbottom's choice of Genoa is inspirational - the churches, beautiful buildings and glorious coast meshing perfectly with a tender script.

Firth is utterly believable in his role as a beleaguered single parent Joe, who is both grieving but attempting to start his life afresh.
I definitely suggest to see the movie and to visit Genova.

Disappointing lack of story line development and full of anticlimaxes
Colin Firth plays a character whose wife is killed in a car crash in the US when she is preventing from seeing the road ahead by her young daughter's game. After the funeral he takes up a teaching post with his two young daughters in Genoa. The youngest daughter sees visions of her dead mother whilst the older daughter starts to live a teenager's lifestyle with parties, boyfriends etc. There are some good views of the old streets of Genoa and a good classical soundtrack, as both girls learn piano, but apart from this little to recommend it. The story doesn't really go anywhere and nothing much happens. The direction has a slightly rough art-house feel to it and many of the scenes are poorly lit. There are many scenes where you think the tension is building towards some unexpected event but nothing at all happens. It is described as very similar to 'Don't look now', but would certainly have been livened up by a homicidal dwarf in a red cloak, but alas, all we get here are anticlimaxes. I assume the main theme is the psychological effect upon the younger daughter versus the supernatural, however this was too dull for me. The ending is rather abrupt. If you like a film with a strong story line with something actually happening you should avoid this.