THE LIFE AHEAD | FILM REVIEW
Dir: Edoardo Ponti (15, 94 mins)
A heartwarming drama with a gritty edge that proves a worthy vehicle for the return of acting royalty Sophia Loren to the screen. She plays Madame Rosa: a Holocaust survivor in an Italian seaside town who takes in children, especially those of prostitutes or those in strained circumstances, giving them a roof over their head and some Euros in her pocket. At the centre of the film, though, is an extraordinary performance from 12-year-old Ibrahima Gueye, as the orphaned Sengalese boy Momo she grudgingly takes in after he tries to rob her. They form an unlikely friendship as Momo struggles to fit in with fellow ‘foster’ child Iosif, played by Iosif Diego Pirvu who is struggling to learn Hebrew, and the occasional visit from the adorable Babu and her mother, the transitioned Lola played by Abril Zamora.
Momo falls under the tolerant tutelage of local Muslim storeowner Hamil, played with gentle kindness by Babak Karimi. All are welcomed by Loren’s character in glorious – although sometimes hardnosed – acceptance. Yet the toll of her troubled life is about to catch up with Madame Rosa, as moments of memory loss and forgetfulness culminate in hospitalization. Momo, meanwhile, is learning that petty crime has a price, as his new family fractures and Madame Rosa needs more help than ever to escape from her past demons and her current frail state.
A deeply human film with winning performances all around, Gueye particularly moving as a boy without a family trying to have some sort of joy in his life. It’s also wonderful to see Sophia Loren, whose career has spanned the decades, in a role that embraces her age and status. It may tread certain well-worn narrative paths, but this adaptation of Romain Gary’s book is a crowdpleasing burst of eventual hope, positivity and tolerance that feels very necessary in the polarizing and often inhumane maelstrom of 2020.
Streaming on Netflix now
words KEIRON SELF