Pane e tulipani (2000)

I'd never heard of this movie before and was interested because of its many good reviews. I saw it won awards, too. However, having watching it, I think that I put too much hope on this. The movie is nice, but not as good as I had expected.

It's about a clumsy housewife, Rosalba (Licia Maglietta) -at first I did sympathize with her-, who is left by her family during a group tour because she was too long in the bathroom. She doesn't wait as her husband has instructed, but hitchhikes a car to go home, and ends up in a town she has never visited before: Venice. She befriends a gloomy restaurateur (who doesn't hesitate to praise his rival's cooking) and stays at his apartment, makes friends with his neighbour, a masseuse, and his daughter-in-law and grandson. She also finds a job in a flower shop, whose owner has witty remarks. Meanwhile, her husband, feels humiliated left by his wife (although she sends him letters and postcards from time to time) hires a plumber as a detective to find her.

I never understand the reason Fernando wants to kill himself. I think the grandson makes him happy. Also mysterious is how can he find her at the parking lot of the supermarket. Sure, Rosalba is happier in Venice, where she is more appreciated than in her own family's home. There dinner together seems cold and nobody cares what she thinks. Not only Rosalba and Fernando find happiness, but also the detective, who can be free from his mother, and the masseuse, who finds her true love.