an unhappy italian housewife , a lonely waiter , a goofy masseuse , lots of love , and gorgeous scenery all come together in bread and tulips , which proves charming despite its covering of predictable , well-worn material .
the story concerns the aforementioned housewife , rosalba barletta ( licia maglietta ) who accidentally becomes separated from her immediate family while on vacation .
instead of waiting for a ride home , rosalba opts not to go home to her italian town , but to instead hitchhike to venice .
upon arriving , she tells her self-centered husband , mimmo ( an excellent antonio catania ) that she’ll be home in a few days .
of course , that doesn’t happen , as rosalba quickly gains a level of independence that has been unattainable in her past life of scrubbing floors and buying groceries .
in what seems like days , she moves in with lonely , suicidal waiter fernando ( bruno ganz ) , gets a job as a florist , learns the accordion , and befriends her neighbor — a wacky holistic masseuse named grazia ( marina massironi ) .
rosalba , who is first seen wearing a gaudy stretch pants outfit , starts wearing sexy dresses and getting closer to fernando .
i can think of at least five other ( american ) movies ( including fried green tomatoes and an unmarried woman ) that are more than similar to bread and tulips .
but maglietta and ganz , who act with restraint and care , help bread and tulips from becoming a tired retread .
ganz plays the suicidal waiter role with a solemn , sometimes playful dignity that is a joy to watch , while maglietta never overreacts to her growing comfort with the outside world .
throughout the movie , maglietta has an easygoing , confident demeanor , which makes it very easy to root for her and her growing attraction for ganz’s character .
the gorgeous scenery of moonlit town squares and sparkling rivers provides a perfect love story backdrop — you just might want to ask the attractive stranger in the seat behind you for coffee after the lights come up .
director and co-writer silvio soldini must get credit for sprinkling the movie with effective goofy humor .
the cheap mimmo , desperate to find his wife ( after all , he needs his shirts ironed and his mistress won’t do it ) , hires a job applicant ( giuseppe battiston ) at his bathroom supply firm to do the job .
the reason ?
mimmo discovers that the prospective plumber loves detective stories .
the novice detective’s various misfortunes , including him saying goodbye to his weepy mother , are very funny .
unfortunately , there are flaws that somewhat spoil bread and tulips’ cheery tone .
rosalba is bothered by several surreal dreams during her time in venice , which bring the movie to a halt .
it’s like putting a gunfight in a nora ephron movie .
several details in fernando’s life also never get proper closure , including his suicidal tendencies .
early in the movie , he nearly hangs himself before rosalba knocks on his apartment door .
after that , fernando’s step towards death is never made reference to , probably because soldini wanted to include a lukewarm , underdeveloped subplot about fernando’s stormy past .
it seems more like a desperate attempt to pump up the drama in a plot that doesn’t need any .
but there aren’t a lot of overwhelming negatives in bread and tulips .
the movie is fun and romantic , with beautiful scenery and characters whose lives we’d like to live if we had the nerve . . .
or if our passports weren’t missing .