Summer time Games ((Giochi d'estate))

'Summer Games'A Look Now! (in Europe) discharge of a Peacock Film, Classic production, in colaboration with RSI, RSG SSR, Arte. (Worldwide sales: Rezo Films, Paris.) Created by Elena Pedrazzoli, Amedeo Pagani. Executive producer, Ilann Girard. Directed by Rolando Colla. Script, Colla, Roberto Scarpetti, Olivier Lorelle, Pilar Anguita-MacKay, Zoe Galeron.With: Armando Condolucci, Fiorella Campanella, Francesco Huang, Chiara Scolari, Marco d'Orazi, Alessia Barela, Antonio Merone, Roberta Fossile, Aaron Hitz, Monica Cervini, Giorgio Gobbi, Max Zampetti, Michele Napoleone. (Italian, French dialogue)There is nothing new on the planet in "Summer time Games," a superbly shot and mostly well-behaved drama that crudely juxtaposes the from time to time overlapping mobile phone industry's of grown ups and kids in an Italo campground. Latest feature by Rolanda Colla, a Swiss director of Italian descent, is credited to some staggering five screenwriters (such as the helmer) but struggles to develop something original to express the grown-up characters' pre-divorce bickering particularly comes down to a pileup of threadbare cliches. Good-searching pic will repetition Europe within the foreign-language Oscar derby and it has arranged a couple of scattered niche theatrical excursions in continental Europe. Set in a campground around the sunny Italian coast, "Games" initially concentrates on sulky digital rebel kid Nic (Armando Condolucci), who's at odds together with his somewhat crass working-class father, Vincenzo (Antonio Merone). They are on holiday with Nic's kid brother, Agostino (Marco d'Orazi), and also the boys' mother, Adriana (Alessia Barela), whose marriage to Vincenzo clearly has seen better days. When protecting Agostino's recognition, Nic (short for Nicola) will get right into a scuffle with Marie (Fiorella Campanella), a woman from French-speaking Europe who also talks Italian. She's also on holiday together with her family, with a more youthful brother or sister (Chiara Scolari). As frequently happens with kids, their mutual bitterness is quickly forgotten when bigger group adventures beckon, namely a rickety shed inside a nearby cornfield that becomes the hideout of these two brother or sister sets along with a local kid (Francesco Huang). Although the daredevilry, cruelty and uninhibited character from the children's games appear somewhat familiar, Colla finds precisely the right tone with this material, remaining observant without becoming sensationalistic, preachy or too detached. Regrettably, exactly the same can not be stated from the film's portrait of Nic's parents, who appear stuck less inside a loveless marriage as with a fundamental template of conjugal strife. The way in which Colla and the small military of authors contrast the overbearing presence of Nic's father, that has anger-management issues, with the truth that Marie, Nic's potential paramour, doesn't have father, is really on-the-nose it manages to lose any symbolic or undercover impact. Following a somewhat shaky start, youthful Condolucci develops into his role and will get some strong moments by which he becomes the narrative linchpin, embodying that difficult age when kids become conscious that several things their parents do aren't right, but haven't enter into their very own enough to forthrightly dismiss authority. Opposite him, Campanella is less consistent, while Merone particularly is boxed in by weak character development. Other entertainers are usually fine. Besides Condolucci, the film's other star is without doubt the cinematography of newcomer Lorenz Merz, which luxuriates in sun-dappled and penumbral configurations and tanned summer time skin color. It accomplishes an amount of contrasts and detail that's rarely seen on HD films (shot here using the Red-colored camera) and really should catapult him to the top listing of youthful lensers to utilize in Euroland.Camera (color, HD-to-35mm), Lorenz Merz editors, Colla, Didier Ranz music, Bernd Schurer, Nikolaj Grandjean production designers, Paola Genni, Martino Sulmoni, Andi Schraemli costume designers, Daniela Verdenelli, Sara Facchini seem (Dolby Digital), Juerg Lempen. Examined at Thessaloniki Film Festival (Open Horizons), November. 7, 2011. (In Venice, Toronto, Busan, Warsaw film festivals.) Running time: 98 MIN. Contact Boyd van Hoeij at news@variety.com