What more do I want

Actually, Anna (Alba Rohrwacher) should be happy: she has a good job and a lovely boyfriend (Giuseppe Battiston), who carries her on hands. But even though everything is going according to plan, a lot of passion is lost in the daily grind. And when she meets the married Domenico (Pierfrancesco Favio), sparks immediately fly. Soon the two begin an affair that shouldn't be more than a few moments of passionate sex. But after a few of these meetings, Anna realizes that she expects more from this relationship and from her life...

Director Silvio Soldini, who thrilled audiences with "Bread and Tulips" or "Days and Clouds", also devotes himself to the pitfalls of interpersonal relationships against the backdrop of social and political developments in Italy in "What Do I Want More" in his typical true-to-life manner. However, this is really only used as a backdrop, as the focus is clearly on the relationship between Anna and Domenico.

The beginning of their affair is drawn in a very engaging and also understandable way. To be sure, both Anna's boyfriend Alessio, a lovable bear of a man, and Domenico's wife Miriam (Teresa Saponangelo) are not unsympathetically drawn. On the contrary, Alessio in particular comes across as tremendously endearing. Still, as a viewer, you can understand why Anna and Domenico are so attracted to each other. The relationship between Anna and Alessio may be beautiful, but it is dominated by a routine that has made them less lovers than good friends. And in the case of Domenico and Miriam, the poor financial situation of the family and the two children dominate the relationship, from which any form of passion also seems to have disappeared long ago - even if love is definitely present.

However, even if the beginning of the affair, the escape from the rather dull everyday life, is comprehensible and engagingly drawn, the film cannot keep what the beginning promises until the end. Certainly: the events remain realistic and deeply human. But Soldini simply takes too much time to tell what is in itself a very simple story, so that the initial erotic tension soon gives way to tough boredom. As good as the actors are, as true-to-life as the staging may be, it is difficult to stay emotionally attached to the action until the end.

Extending a story that could easily have been told in under 90 minutes to over two hours was truly not a good idea. To be sure, that doesn't make "What Do I Want More" a bad movie. The drama simply has too many good moments and too convincing actors for that. But in the end, it becomes clear that Soldini has overstretched the patience of his viewers and abandoned the chance of a great romantic drama in favor of an unwieldy arthouse experience. It's a shame, even if the end result has nonetheless become well worth watching for lovers of European program cinema fare

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp