RIMINI
Paunchy, bigoted has-been crooner Ritchie Bravo (Michael Thomas, in an astounding performance) is an utter loser living in the Italian resort town of Rimini who supplements his meager income as a lounge singer by bedding the senior women in the audience for money. At the film's start, the Austrian expat is back home, where he is begrudgingly reunited with his brother and senile father following the death of his mother. Upon his return to Italian shores, Ritchie is confronted by Tessa, his estranged adult daughter, who immediately demands 30,000 euros in compensation for having lived 12 years without a father and missed out on all the gifts he surely would have bestowed on her. Surprisingly, Ritchie's paternal and familial instincts kick in and he agrees to scrounge up the cash, one way or another. Director Ulrich Seidl's (PARADISE trilogy) darkly comic character study oozes with sleaze, copious amounts of sex and a twisted view of family that is as surprisingly charming as its lead character. Official Selection, 2022, Berlin International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Ulrich Seidl; SCR Veronika Franz; PROD Philippe Bober, Michel Merkt. Austria/France/Germany, 2022, color, 114 min. In German and Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED
No AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 114 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, December 16, 2022
Genre: Dark comedy
