"Quiet Chaos"

By David Hudson on 06/26/2009

"The wanton slaughter of mothers and the consequent struggles of grieving single dads has been an epidemic in Hollywood for a long time, and not only in movies starring John Cusack," writes AO Scott in the New York Times. "'Quiet Chaos,' a new film from the Italian director Antonello Grimaldi, demonstrates that the sad-dad melodrama is a global (or at least a midlevel European art film) phenomenon. If the film is less maudlin and more psychologically astringent than most American specimens, this is partly a matter of Mr Grimaldi's restraint and partly thanks to Nanni Moretti's sharp and unpredictable turn as the dad in question."

"[T]he film inevitably seems like an afterthought inspired by 'The Son's Room,' Mr Moretti's own much-lauded take on the grief process," writes Martin Tsai in the Critic's Notebook. "The two films share thematic threads, but Mr Grimaldi has extended every strand by a mile, including the tangential ones. Some manifestations of the mourning presented in 'Quiet Chaos' do register as observant, while others strike as way off topic."

"The trouble with 'Quiet Chaos' is that there's too much quiet and not enough chaos," writes Matt Connolly in Reverse Shot. "The emotional turmoil spoken about by the film's characters rarely punctures its tranquil, sleepy surface."

The story "becomes less redeemable as a touching chronicle of one man's spiritual healing and more convincing as an arc that runs the course of middle-aged sexual anxieties," writes Ricky D'Ambrose in the L Magazine. "Perhaps the most startling feature of Grimaldi's film is the confidence and ease it has in turning Frank Capra into Adrian Lyne."

"Melancholic but lively, 'Quiet Chaos' is a sweet crowd-pleaser, but the film, which is based on the novel by Sandro Veronesi, earns its emotions," finds Jürgen Fauth.

"'Quiet Chaos' does not slight death (nor our responses to it) but has the wisdom to place the event in thoughtful perspective, both from the viewpoint of those closest to it, young and old, as well as from those who remain at some distance," writes James van Maanen.

Ella Taylor, writing in the Voice, disagrees: "Not even the momentary participation extraordinaire of a vertically challenged famous filmmaker self-exiled from the United States can save this phony pseudo-drama from its final collapse into a heap of inconsequence and male vanity."

That cameo "sabotages much of the emotional weight," finds Joshua Rothkopf in Time Out New York.

"While Grimaldi's refusal to recreate a typical tear-streaked post-tragedy drama is no doubt admirable, his use of music serves as a 'tell' that he doesn't fully trust in his approach," writes Andrew Schenker (Slant). "And given the flimsiness of what he does achieve, he's probably right not to."

[Photo: "Quiet Chaos," IFC Films, 2008]

Tags: Antonello Grimaldi, Italian Cinema, Nanni Moretti, Quiet Chaos