REVISITING "MID-AUGUST LUNCH"

“Mid-August Lunch” (aka, "Pranzo di Ferragosto") is a beautifully crafted and gently comic film about a Mediterranean son and his mother. Gianni Di Gregorio wrote and directed this semi-autobiographical story, in which he also stars as Gianni, an unemployed, middle-aged bachelor who cares for his widowed 93-year-old mother, Valeria (Valeria De Franciscis). They live together in a well-furnished but otherwise shabby apartment in Rome, where they have little money and rely mostly on each other for company. But when the city empties in mid-August for the holiday of Ferragosto, Gianni suddenly finds himself tending to not only his mother but also three other wilful old ladies.

Shot on location in Di Gregorio's old family flat for less than €500,000 ($740,000), this directorial debut is understated in every way–quite unlike "Gomorrah", the mafia epic Di Gregorio co-wrote. Working from his own experience living with his mother in a similar situation, Di Gregorio has said he found it hard to cast professional actors in the film, as they failed to conjure up the right dynamic. He ended up casting a 93-year-old family friend as his mother and his 90-year-old aunt in another role.

The result is honest, unsentimental and unexpectedly funny. Old age, a subject rarely addressed in film, is here patiently observed and respected. Gianni's elderly charges first act like stroppy schoolgirls, petulant and territorial. But time eases their defenses, and the ladies ultimately revel in each other’s company while an exhausted Gianni looks on with pride. The charm of this film is in these relationships, which Di Gregorio captures with intimate realism (particularly that of a mother and son).

Having won the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Film Festival in 2008, the film has travelled the festival circuit and enjoyed a limited international distribution. Now "Mid-August Lunch" is available in Britain and Europe on DVD.