BUT FOREVER IN MY MIND A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): ***
The differences between an Italian teenage romantic comedy like Gabriele Muccino's BUT FOREVER IN MY MIND (COME TE NESSUNO MAI) and the typical American one are dramatic. This smartly written farce doesn't contain a single instance of bathroom humor and no one falls down drunk. Instead we get a Shakespearean-style plot of confused intentions set against the satirical backdrop of student revolution. In short, it's sweeter, more intelligent and more fun than its average American counterpart.
Silvio Muccino, who shares writing credits with the director, plays a charming but unsure youth named Silvio. He and his buddies ponder that age old dilemma of how they will ever be able to "score" with the girls. The director has the camera cut to a group of girls who share the same concerns, although they express them somewhat differently.
As the story begins, the kids have their attention diverted by their regularly scheduled revolution. Since they are planning on shutting the school down again, Silvio suggests they choose a different theme for this year's occupation of the administration. His fellow students shout him down as some sort of reactionary. They clearly want to wave their same Che Guevara flags and shout their same tried-and-true slogans. When they do take over the building, the jubilant kids whoop and holler like students from the 50s on a panty raid.
A hilarious subplot has Silvio's upper-middle-class parents (Luca De Filippo and Anna Galiena), admitted ex-revolutionaries themselves, chastising Silvio for his protest activities. The father says that he fought against the Vietnam War and the bourgeoisie, whereas his son's causes are more trivial. Since Silvio's fellow "radicals" are railing against school "standardization and privatization," his father does have a point.
Actually Silvio's heart isn't in the revolution, although he's willing to pack his sleeping bag and join the other students if it means he can pick up the girl of his dreams, Valentina (Giulia Carmignani). He actually gets to kiss Valentina once in the Archives, the news of which travels at the speed of light to the rest of the school, especially to Martino (Simone Pagani), Valentina's boyfriend and Silvio's buddy.
Meanwhile, Claudia (Giulia Steigerwalt), who likes Silvio but has never had the courage to tell him, hears of the incident in Archives and begins to rethink her infatuation. This leads to a long series of misunderstandings about who really loves whom.
The final proof of the difference in how the two nationalities approach romantic comedy among teens can be found in the casting. American films cast the most voluptuous females for the teen roles. Here, the girls are nice looking enough but it is the mother (Anna Galiena) who is an absolute stunner. (In the unlikely event that this cast was given to an American director, he would probably change the script to have Silvio's friends abandoning all thoughts of girls their age in favor of having an affair with his mother.)
BUT FOREVER IN MY MIND runs 1:28. The film is in Italian with English subtitles. It is not yet rated but will probably be an R for some profanity and sexuality and would be fine for teenagers.
The film will be playing as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival (http://www.sfiff.org), which runs April 20 to May 4, 2000. It does not currently have a United States release date.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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