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Avanti [1972]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

The complete obscurity of Avanti is a cinematic injustice that needs to be rectified. Jack Lemmon and director Billy Wilder made their share of hits together (Some Like It Hot and The Apartment, for starters), but this wry, melancholy comedy was completely out of touch with its time (which recalls a Wilder one-liner from the 1970s: "Who the hell would want to be in touch with these times?"). It may have flopped badly in 1972, but it wears well in retrospect. Lemmon plays a jerk American businessman called to Italy to pick up the body of his father, who died while enjoying a secret (and, it turns out, annual) liaison with a mistress. With the help of a delightful Englishwoman (Juliet Mills) who happens to be the daughter of the "other woman", Lemmon finds himself stepping in a few of dad's footsteps, and falling under the sway of the beguiling Italian atmosphere. It's a very leisurely movie, but that's part of the effect. Clive Revill delivers a gem of a performance as a heroic hotel manager, and Juliet Mills (sister of Hayley, daughter of Sir John) had her finest screen hour here. As a director, Wilder spent much of his early career camouflaging his romantic streak under a cynical front; here, despite many acerbic touches and the presence of death as the central plot device, the romance is in full flower under the rich Italian sun. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com


"Italy Was Full Of Surprises!" The Tagline Reads. And This Gentle Gem Is One Of Them!!
Review date: 2007-08-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

When "Avanti!" was released in 1972, the world and its cinema had changed irrevocably. This gentle, slightly slow moving romantic-comedy about not-so-hip people had no real place in a film world gripped by gritty realism, escalating cursing and the depiction of ultra-violence. Still "Avanti!" (it means "forward") was nominated for 6 Golden Globes and won one - Best Comedy Actor for Jack Lemmon.

Produced and Directed by the incomparable Billy Wilder, it featured a fabulously inventive and witty script from the dynamite duo of Wilder and his long-time writing buddy L.A.L. Diamond. Check this out. Clive Revill (Nominated as Best Comedy Supporting Actor) is in the Hotel bus on route with Lemmon from the airport telling the busy executive of Armbruster Enterprises (his father's company) that all of Italy closes for lunch between one o'clock and four o'clock in the afternoon. The incensed and jittery Wendell is agog.
Jack Lemmon: "Three hours for lunch!"
Clive Revill: "Here we take our time...we cook our pasta...we drink our wine...we make our love..."
Jack Lemmon: "What do you do in the evening?"
Clive Revill: (Frowns) "We go home to our wives!"
"Avanti!" is full of stuff like this!

The story goes as so. Millionaire Wendell Armbrewster from Baltimore USA arrives in a hurry and ill-prepared in Italy to pick up the body of his father, killed in a car accident on the slopes of Naples. What he doesn't bargain for is that his bastion-of-morality father William was not alone in the car as it crashed into a vineyard. He was with his mistress Kate. In fact he'd gone to the beautiful and picturesque resort for 10 years to be with her. Both were in their late Sixties but giddily in love like kids.

On route (on the plane, boat and train) Wendell keeps meeting the prim and proper Penny Pritchett (a delightful and lovely Juliet Mills) from London, England. She seems to be everywhere he goes - and when she turns up at his hotel room too - Wendell works it out - she is the daughter of Kate, his father's mistress and there to pick up her mother's body! Italian shenanigans follow one after another to stave off the funeral in Baltimore the following Tuesday - the crafty Hotel staff trying to keep the scandal at bay, the ludicrous legal paperwork, no one works the weekends, missing bodies, more triplicate paperwork, blackmailing porters and vineyard guys, swimming naked to the rock their parents used to frequent and giving the local randy fishermen an eyeful (Mills has lovely breasts which Lemmon suddenly notices). And, of course, they slowly secumb to the magic of the place and fall in love themselves.

The humour is constant and the dialogue the same. For instance. Two zinc-lined coffins are needed from out of town before the bodies can be released, but the bodies get nicked by the vineyard guys who want compensation for their grapes "poisoned by death"! Lemmon listens to Hotel Owner's crafty and constant updates on their progress with increasing American uptightness. "Great! First we have two bodies and no coffins, now we have two coffins and no bodies!"

The two leads are of course part of the secret. As the years pass, your admiration for Jack Lemmon only grows. His range, his subtlety, the way he made it look easy - you realise how truly great an actor he was. He could do witty like no-one, crazy, charming, sensitive, uptight - but all the time with that everyman humanity that Jimmy Stewart had. Juliet Mills too - lovely, sexy in her way, sweet. She has a running joke about weight all through the film which she milks with subtlety and skill and provides exactly the right kind of gentle counter that Lemmon's character needs. Throw in a cast of brilliantly funny Italian locals, romantic locations and silly set-ups and you have a fantastic Sunday afternoon warmer.

This is the kind of film that makes me want to put a picture of Billy Wilder and his chunky spectacles on my wall. And every time that I look at it, I'll smile.

Do yourself a favour and check it out - or better still - buy it and keep it for that day you need a lift.

Arrivederci! Love birds!

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Reviews


Simply wonderful
Review date: 2007-07-29 Rating: 10 out of 10

My dad and I loved Jack Lemmon to bits. Matter of fact, so much so, that when my dad died back in 1995, I wrote Jack, and told him how many fond memories I had of us, sitting at home, or at the cinema, watching his work. Just a month later, I got a smashing, signed black & white photo, where Jack wished me all the best and thanked me for a lovely letter.

Jack's The Apartment is among my top 5, desert island films. It could just as easily be this one.

Avanti is one of those movies that can only be a Billy Wilder/Jack Lemmon production. Anyone else just wouldn't do. The plot is neither naff, nor ropey, and everyone does a splendid job. The vistas and views of Italy are smashing and spot on, even though the story has that stage feel to it.

As is often the case with Jack Lemmons work, the humour is gut busting at times, without being forced. I can think of no other american actor with such an understaded dry with as Jack, and that's one of the main reasons I love him. The other reason is easy to spot. He was such a loveable, everyman. Someone you would want as a friend, in part because you want to feel superior to someone, part because you want a friend you feel a need to take care of.

And, aside from anything else, for those of us who love that early 1970's look to movies, this really is a treat. The only other comedy I can think of that works as well as this, from the same period is Woody Allen's Play it again Sam.

I can only suggest that anyone who reads this treat themselves to this great gem!

what a wonderful surprise
Review date: 2006-02-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

As a movie fan I can´t forgive myself for not discovering this film until my wife told me about it. No wonder it´s her favourite,it´s almost mine too now (among my three favourite films, the others being "Rebecca" and "Wuthering Heights"). We watch it time after time and never get tired of it. It´s Billy Wilder at its best. So witty, funny and perfect! The cast is great and that setting on that tiny italian island makes you want to have an affair yourself. Not to mention the music, which I´ve been after for a long time unsuccessfully. At least I was lucky enough to find the song "senza fine". It´s a pity there´s no soundtrack available. To me this is what films are all about and I will treasure this wonderful surprise from my wife. Thank you, Rosie.

a fine romance
Review date: 2005-03-04 Rating: 8 out of 10

A lovely, gentle, heart warming film. These first few words may have put you off, but don't let them - this may not be as popular or famous as Wilder's "Some Like it Hot" for instance but Avanti is a fine film, which succesfully captures the style of Italy and of being away from home on the unreal world of a holiday. For those of you unfamiliar with Italian beaurocracy, the scene with the Italian official being summoned to conirm the status of the deceased at the morgue on a Sunday is to myself, having spent time in Italy, utterly believeable and side-splitting!! The film follows Jack Lemmon and Sarah Miles over the course of a weekend as they arrange the funerals of their father and mother respectively, who it transpires were lovers. Their performances are pefectly matched; in addition the hotel manager - excuse me if I forget his name - is a wonderful foil as the likeable, witty individual who runs the hotel as a business but appreciates all too well the importance of looking after the guest as an individual. At one point, after another guest finds a plate of scrambled egg in bath, the manager comments: "now you know why I want that job at the Sheraton". You just have to watch the film if you want to appreciate and understand the build up to that comment. Take my word, it's worth it.

Another Great Jack Lemmon Comedy
Review date: 2002-02-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

Despite the unfortunate video cover, this is a very good film. With more subtle humour and romance than past Wilder films it is a nice easy pace to enjoy. Full of great farce and situation humour, and has some great charactors, performances, dialouge and setting.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Gianfranco Barra
Jack Lemmon
Clive Revill
Juliet Mills
Edward Andrews

Creators:
Jack Lemmon (Primary Contributor)
Juliet Mills (Primary Contributor)
Luigi Kuveiller (Cinematographer)
Billy Wilder (Producer)
Billy Wilder (Writer)
Ralph E. Winters (Editor)
I.A.L. Diamond (Writer)
Samuel A. Taylor (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
EAN: 5050070020793
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2004-06-07
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 141 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1972-12-17
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Finnish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: Greek (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Italian (Original Language)

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