Genova Review

In the 1970s, Nic Roeg went to Venice to make a film about a couple trying to come to terms with the death of their daughter. Some 20 years later, Michael Winterbottom has gone to Genoa to shoot a picture about a man struggling to get over the death of his wife.

It's there that the comparisons between Don't Look Now and Genova must end. For while Roeg's picture is a paranormal thriller with a real human heart, Winterbottom's movie is a human story with a dash of magic realism. As Joe, Colin Firth is a husband bereft following the untimely passing of his wife Marianne (Hope Davis, making the most of what's essentially an extended cameo). His grief is compacted by the fact the accident was caused by the recklessness of his youngest daughter Mary (Perla Haney-Jardine). Guilt ridden, Mary is stricken with night terrors, a horrifying condition that apparently hastens Joe's decision to leave the family home in New York and take up a teaching post in Italy.

With its beach, street cafes and sunny afternoons, Genova isn't the worst place to start over. Indeed, adolescent elder child Kelly (Willa Holland) quickly adapts to la dolce vita. Joe, though, finds himself torn between memories of Marianne and possible promises of new romance. And while Mary finds some moments of joy, these invariably involve someone or something baring a close resemblance to her late mother.