Italian for Beginners
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Lone Scherfig
Anders Wodskou Berthelsen
Anette Stovelbaek
Peter Gantzler
Ann Eleonora J°rgensen
Lars Kaalund
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
A relationship comedy about six thirty-somethings whose lives interweave one bleak Copenhagen winter. For these singles--in despair--in their small Danish town, their introductory Italian class is the catalyst that infuses their ordinary lives with passion and makes their dim futures significantly brighter. Andreas is a minister whose wife has recently died, and arrives in town to fill in for the suspended, spiteful pastor. Expecting to stay only for a short while, he is encouraged to take Italian lessons where he meets Olympia. While staying in a local hotel, he befriends the lonely concierge, who has a crush on an Italian waitress from the hotel cafe. She, meanwhile, must deal with her rude and aggressive boss. Two women in the class are both caretakers for their elderly parents, and both are having difficulties with their bad-tempered relatives. Family obligations, miscommunication and shaky self-esteem complicate these relationships.
Director
Lone Scherfig
Cast
Anders Wodskou Berthelsen
Anette Stovelbaek
Peter Gantzler
Ann Eleonora J°rgensen
Lars Kaalund
Karen-lise Mynster
Rikke Wolck
Elsebeth Steentoft
Sara Indrio Jensen
Bent Mejding
Claus Gerving
Jesper Christensen
Carlo Barsotti
Lene Tiemroth
Alex Nyborg Madsen
Steen Svare Hansen
Susanne Oldenburg
Martin Brygmann
Crew
Enrico Ballarin
Karen Bentzon
Mave Binchy
Malin Birch-jensen
Helle Bonnelykke
Sarita Christensen
T.c. Christensen
Gert Duve Skovlund
Mikkel Groos
Lars Hogsted
J°rgen Johansson
J°rgen Johansson
William Knuttel
Ingrid Kofoed
Jette Lehmann
Dr V/marianne Mortizen
Kasper Munck-hansen
Bo Holm Nielsen
Mikael Olsen
Anja Philip
Charlotte Lange Poulsen
Niels Reiermann
Lone Scherfig
Gert Duve Skovlund
Carsten Sosted
Ib Tardini
Gerd Tjur
Vinca Wiedemann
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (in competition) February 7-18, 2001.
Shown at Chicago International Film Festival (in competition) October 4-18, 2001.
Shown at Hamptons International Film Festival October 17-21, 2001.
Shown at Mill Valley Film Festival in Mill Valley, California October 4-14, 2001.
Shown at New York Film Festival September 28 - October 14, 2001.
Shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival (Gala Screening) January 10-21, 2002.
Shown at San Sebastian International Film Festival (Thematic Retrospective. Cold Fever) September 20-29, 2007.
Shown at Vancouver International Film Festival September 27 - October 12, 2001.
Shot in accordance with the stylistic confines of the Dogma '95 Manifesto.
Released in United States 2001 (Shown at New York Film Festival September 28 - October 14, 2001.)
Released in United States 2001 (Shown at Telluride Film Festival August 31 - September 3, 2001.)
Released in United States 2001 (Shown at Vancouver International Film Festival September 27 - October 12, 2001.)
Released in United States January 2002 (Shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival (Gala Screening) January 10-21, 2002.)
Released in United States Winter January 18, 2002
Released in United States February 2001 (Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (in competition) February 7-18, 2001.)
Expanded Release in United States February 1, 2002
Winner of the 2000 Bodil Award for Best Supporting Actress (Lene Tiemroth).
Winner of three awards, including the Main Competition Jury Prize Silver Bear, the Main Competition Fipresci international critics prize and the Berliner Morgenpost Reader's Prize, at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival.
Expanded Release in United States February 1, 2002
Released in United States 2001
Released in United States February 2001
Released in United States January 2002
Released in United States November 2001
Released in United States October 2001
Released in United States on Video October 15, 2002
Released in United States September 2007
Released in United States Winter January 18, 2002
Released in United States November 2001 (Shown at AFI Fest 2001: The American Film Institute Los Angeles International Film Festival (European Showcase) November 1-11, 2001.)
Released in United States October 2001 (Shown at Hamptons International Film Festival October 17-21, 2001.)
Released in United States October 2001 (Shown at Chicago International Film Festival (in competition) October 4-18, 2001.)
Released in United States September 2007 (Shown at San Sebastian International Film Festival (Thematic Retrospective. Cold Fever) September 20-29, 2007.)
Released in United States October 2001 (Shown at Mill Valley Film Festival in Mill Valley, California October 4-14, 2001.)
Released in United States on Video October 15, 2002
