Avanti! (1972) Reviews

• A comedy, a romance, a satire, a jewel!

  hondo5512006-01-20

  Years ago I thought I was familiar with all of Billy Wilder's movies and as I thumbed through what might have been an old copy of Playboy, perhaps a Sex in the Cinema article, I came across a picture of a nude Juliet Mills and Jack Lemmon sitting on the rocks in an unknown Billy Wilder film, and was determined to one day see that film and much more of the Nanny from The Nanny and the Professor. VCRs were just coming on the market, so I had to wait a few years till Cinemax showed it in the early morning. I stayed up most of the night to satisfy my prurient interest and what I ended up with was a film I didn't want to end, a tune that played over and over again in my head for days, and one of my most favorite movies. Yes, this movie is a comedy, sometimes a very black comedy, and sometimes a satire filled with irony. Yes, it's a romance, all about a wonderful romance that sparks up between two seemingly opposite people in the strangest of places at the strangest of times under the strangest of circumstances, the way romance quite often does. And at times there's sadness and pain to tug at your heart. It's all about discovering who you really are when you've lost your way in all life's confusion, and also about perhaps being better than your parents when you get older and more like them. Lemmon is the consummate cad, Juliet Mills the most charming Englishwoman to grace a celluloid comedy, Clive Revill is perfect in his most Oscar-deserving role as the hotel manager Carlo Carlucci, the Italian cast members never fail to entertain, and the music is as catchy and memorable as any Bernstein or Tiomkin or Goldsmith score. The movie may be 2-1/2 hours long, but the time passes quickly as Lemmon and Mills rediscover love and youth and passion, and I always find myself wishing that I could see the two lovers returning a year later like their parents. Billy Wilder may have given us dramatic gems like Stalag 17, Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, and Sunset Boulevard, given us comedic gems like Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot, and romantic gems like The Apartment and Irma La Douce, but it wasn't till the end of his career that he could take qualities from all of those and give them a magical, lyrical feel and atmosphere and come up with a jewel like Avanti!

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• A bittersweet masterpiece

  zebulonguy2007-05-15

  So much has been said about the plot of Avanti it seems pointless to go over the synopsis again- but I can say although I am a lover of Horror films, Thrillers and Westerns- it is Avanti that is my favourite film of all time.Avanti is gorgeous to look at and features a beautiful music score. How I wish I could obtain a soundtrack of this delightful score. The scene when Pamela Pigott ( Juliet Mills ) tours the city on a horse drawn carriage and later running from her new found admirers is beautiful with the music so perfect.Also when Pamela and Wendell ( Jack Lemmon ) have their evening meal together , it is again a beautiful music score. Jack Lemmon as the bombastic Wendell Armbruster is as always great. Juliet Mills as Pamela Pigott looks far too gorgeous to be ridiculed by Armbruster but she shines in her finest ever role. However for me the film is stolen completely by Clive Revill as the hotel manager- what a sublime performance. Watch his every movement, his every expression, his delivery of every line.It is a captivating performance, totally exquisite. Clive Revill is an actor sorely neglected by the film world.Billy Wilder's film is so very neglected and it's a pity as this is the perfect film. Watch the beautiful, poignant sequence at the mortuary as Pamela and Wendell view the bodies of their mother and father respectively. And again watch Clive Revill alongside Lemmon and Mills- acting with only movement, expression and not a word. The lighting in this scene is so wonderful, it is dark and depressing with the exception of a shaft of sunlight penetrating the smallest of windows. Wilder manages to wring excellent portrayals out of even the most minor of characters. Watch Avanti and savour the acting, the music and the scenery.

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• Come In! -- And Enjoy an Enchanting Romantic Comedy!

  mdm-112004-10-04

  Billy Wilder & Jack Lemmon didn't go straight for the belly laughs in this departure from their usual all-out-crazy comedies. Fans of the masters will be pleasantly surprised by this delightful romantic comedy, which captivates the viewer from the very start. Mezmerizing backdrop music plays as though secretly staged by Cupid standing by to assure that lovebirds will find one another. Lemmon plays the son of a mega-wealthy American business man who had to drop everything to fly to Italy in order to claim the father's remains after a car accident. En route to his late father's "final stop", Lemmon runs in to a persistent young woman, who turns out to be the daughter of the woman with whom the father had had a lengthy affair, and who was found lovingly slung around his neck as they both died in said accident. The situation seems rather awkward at first, but eventually Lemmon and the young woman begin following into the exact same steps their departed parents had done years earlier. The picture is completed by a brilliant supporting cast of hotel personnel and colorful locals. The performance of the multi-talented and ever-present-minded hotel manager was Oscar worthy. Listening to the testimony of all people asked, Lemmon learns that his late father and his "friend" were viewed as Royalty, nothing less than figures from a fairy tale. The concluding scenes are the final touches to a most enchanting romantic comedy, one that has few rivals in its category. Billy Wilder has done it again. What he missed in big laughs, he made up in many magic moments and gentle pressures to your tear glands. One of the very best out there. Belissima!

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• Lemmon and Wilder take to Europe

  coverme62001-08-10

  The great team of actor Jack Lemmon and director Billy Wilder create yet another classic in their repetoire of great films. In AVANTI! (which means "forward" in Italian), Lemmon plays Armbruster, a snobby American executive who travels to Italy to reclaim the body of his father after the latter dies of an autowreck. Little did Armbruster know that his old man had a companion with him, a British lady whose daughter Pamela (Juliet Mills) is also present to claim her body. Though antagonists at first, Armbruster and Pamela are drawn together because of their parents' mutual interest. With a rich Italian landscape (complete with an awesome view of the Mediterrean Sea), plus a typically great performance by Lemmon and a well-played one by Mills, make this a terrific romance flick.

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• beautiful film in a beautiful location

  TheNorthernMonkee2004-07-07

  SPOILERS There is a general theory in the world today that we will one day evolve into our parents. As one man might become like his father, as might a woman become like her mother. This is perhaps one aspect of the beautiful film that is "Avanti!". In this film, Wendell Armbuster Junior (the always brilliant Jack Lemmon) has travelled to Italy to pick up the recently deceased body of his father. Running on occasion into an English woman by the name of Pamela Piggott (Juliet Mills), Wendell experiences the beauty of the small Isle Of Ischia as a friendship develops with the neurotic Miss Piggott. The beauty of "Avanti" is it's simplicity. Jack Lemmon travels to Italy as one man, and leaves another. Learning the truth behind his fathers visits to Ischia, Lemmon slowly begins to emulate his father and fall for his father's lover's daughter. Taught to relax and enjoy life, Lemmon's character develops from a mad, rushing, rude businessman into a friendly romantic with a lust for life. Juliet Mills' Miss Piggott equally changes as she develops from a paranoid, unhappy, diet obsessed, nut into a happy, laid back, beautiful woman with an equal love for life as Lemmon. Together the couple work beautifully together, firstly sparring and later uniting. This film is wonderful for many reasons. As well as the aforementioned change amongst the starring cast, Clive Revill as the hotel manager Carlo Carlucci is superb and has some of the films funniest lines. Added to the acting abilities, the brilliant direction of Billy Wilder and already looking like a piece of genius. Ultimately though, as well as the acting and directing, the three things which really make this film stand out are the often hilarious script, the stunning, addictive soundtrack and the picturesque views. After watching "Avanti", the one thing most viewers want is to instantly be transported away from where ever they are, to the beautiful landscapes of the Italian Islands. With glorious sunshine, rocks in the water where you can relax and watch the Sun come up, and classical buildings, the impression is that the people to come out of this film the best were the tourist trade of this beautiful Isle. Truth be told, there's hardly any criticism which can be given to this film. Starting brilliantly from the offset, there's no slow start, just like there's no awkward ending. The only negative aspect, perhaps, is that it makes us wish we were somewhere else. Even this though is not as much a negative as a frustration. "Avanti" is an amazing film which makes us smile and makes us laugh. It reminds us of the beauty of the world, and it reminds us of how great life can be. This is one for the ages.

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