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the audience applauded

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Italian for Beginners-2000 Italiensk for Begyndere. A film from Denmark. An unforgettable romantic comedy that's earned overwhelming acclaim, Italian FOR BEGINNERS is a warm & playful story about seven perfect strangers & the shared journey of discovery that changes each of their lives! In a small, rainy suburb, a mismatched collection of opposites have signed up for an Italian class in hopes of spicing up their lives! Then, as they realize the class offers them more than just language lessons, they join together on a quest to Italy with the renewed desire to pursue the romances of their lives! Once there, these world-weary students who thought there was nothing left to learn from life will get an education that will change everything they know about love! Hal-Finn (Lars Kaalund) who is in love with an Italian woman but is afraid to tell her, Olympia (Anette Stovelaek) who uses the class as excuse to get away from her demanding mother, & Carmen (Ann Eleonora Jorgensen) who has a similar problem with her alcoholic mom. Not your usual lighthearted romance, Lone Sherfig's heartwarming comedy warms the usually chilly Dogme 95 world of prickly eccentrics & damaged souls with a glowing sense of hope & passion. A belligerent restaurant manager, a repressed hotelier, a lonely hairdresser, & a clumsy, childlike bakery clerk are among the lonely thirty something's who escape the social disasters & comic chaos of their unfulfilled lives in an Italian-language evening course. It becomes a place to dream & to heal emotional wounds (& they have more than their fair share of scars). Sherfig manages to turn the familiar social landscape of films as The Celebration & The King Is Alive--fractured families, abusive parents, tragic pasts-into a backdrop for romantic comedy. If not exactly profound, Italian for Beginners remains a sweet, hopeful, & affirming tale of eccentrics who find friendship, family, & romance while learning the language of love. I liked this movie a lot! I don't know why the National TV Broadcase companies and Movie Productions companies don't try using to Dogme idea to make one hour real drama mini movies. ( even full length 2 hours movies) this film is a success. 5 stars

A lovely, feelgood film that manages to avoid being twee through several flashes of that dry, dark, Danish sense of humour; as well as a willingness to look at life's realities square on, without overt sentimentality, but with a tentative optimism.For those familiar with Dogme '95 this is proof that it doesn't always have to be vaguely disturbing or downright shocking truths that the medium wrings out of its characters and situations - life isn't always that bleak. For those not familiar with Dogme, this film presents a warm and inviting pool in which one may dip one's toe comfortably.The six lead characters are three-dimensional and likable, including Lars Kaalund's Ramseyan restaurateur Halvfinn. The support is a little more exaggeratedly drawn, but still sympathetic for the most part. The plot is uncomplicated (no prizes for guessing the minor twists) but none the worse for that - part of the Dogme vow of chastity is to avoid the horrendously contrived plot twists favoured by Hollywood today over proper character development or story (you know the usual suspects).One to watch with (teenage) offspring, parents, partners, business partners, potential clients, complete strangers... in fact, just about anyone who's around.

"Italian for Beginners (Italiensk for begyndere)" is yet another of the 2001 movies for grown-ups about adults dealing with death. It shows how death in the family leads to loneliness, though not as light-hearted as indicated by the preview trailer.It is a poignant slice-of-life of a Danish town of misfits, in the earthy, gritty manner of "The Full Monty" or "Billy Elliott."Proudly flashing its minimalist Dogme 95 certificate (hence the lack of illustrative soundtrack songs), it has a warm-hearted understanding of the spectrum of human foibles.Here the woe-be-gone come together, improbably enough, at an Italian class in a local community center, with all that learning a romance language implies. At least that's what I could get out of it despite the older ladies behind me out for a matinée who decided that a sub-titled movie entitled them to talk loudly throughout, as well as kick my seat.(originally written 2/24/2002)

I'm a fan of the Scandinavian cinema and especially of the Dogme-films. I like their way of filming an honest story in a believable way without too much extra's. I'm sure that the average viewer will not like it at all, because they just don't understand what it is all about. You don't get one murder after the other, no big car chases, no extreme violence, no gore... It's the characters and the story around them that has to save the movie, and that's something most people don't seem to get. But when you are like me, you watch several movies a week and keep an open mind towards all kinds of movies, other than the average Hollywood blockbusters, than this is definitely a form of cinema that you have to try.The story in "Italiensk for begyndere" or "Italian for Beginners" as the movie is called in English, evolves around the lives of several inhabitants of a quiet community somewhere in Denmark. All characters meet each other during a beginner's course in Italian and use it as a way to meet new people in the hope to forget about their own personal problems, to find new friends and - when possible - to find love.If I'm honest, than I must say that I didn't like the movie all that much at first. I'm already familiar with Dogme-films, but this one really looked very amateurish and awfully edited and filmed, even for a Dogme film. It even made me doubt if I would be able to keep watching it until the end. But I decided to stay with it it and I must say that I'm glad that I did. The movie has some other qualities that only show when you stay with it long enough. The story for instance is nice. It combines some humor with good drama and with heartwarming romance. And no, it never gets syrupy or over-the-top. It all feels genuine. Another positive aspect, next to the interesting story, is the acting. Even though I've never heard of most of them, all actors did a very nice job, making me wish to see more of their work.In the end this is a nice and heartwarming movie, but I wouldn't call it the best Dogme-movie ever. That certainly doesn't mean that it isn't worth a watch, but I'm convinced that even the fans of Dogme will have to agree with me that it looked quite amateurish. That's also the reason why I believe this isn't the best movie for people who aren't familiar with this kind of movies. If this is the first Dogme-movie that they will see, chances are big that they will never try another one. Still, I had a good time with this movie and that's why I give it a 7/10.