Puoi baciare lo sposo [My Big Gay Italian Wedding] *** (2018, Cristiano Caccamo, Diego Abatantuono, Monica Guerritore, Salvatore Esposito) – Classic Movie Review 12,494

Cristiano Caccamo stars as Antonio, who brings his boyfriend Paulo (Salvatore Esposito) to his Italian village to meet his parents, reveal his sexuality and announce their planned civil partnership. It’s Italy! The cat is among the proverbial pigeons. 

Cristiano Caccamo stars as nice, handsome 28-year-old Italian gay Antonio , in the 2018 Italian comedy-drama film Puoi baciare lo sposo [My Big Gay Italian Wedding], directed by Alessandro Genovesi. Antonio brings his live-in boyfriend Paulo (Salvatore Esposito) to the old Italian village of his birth to meet his headstrong parents, reveal his sexuality and announce their planned civil partnership. It’s Italy! The cat is among the proverbial pigeons.

The script is co-written by Giovanni Bognetti and Alessandro Genovesi, It is based on the off-Broadway play My Big Gay Italian Wedding by Anthony J Wilkinson.

The film stars Salvatore Esposito and Cristiano Caccamo as fiancés Paolo and Antonio; Diego Abatantuono and Monica Guerritore as Antonio’s parents Roberto and Anna; and Dino Abbrescia and Diana Del Bufalo as Antonio and Paolo’s flatmates Donato and Benedetta.

In Berlin where they live, actor Antonio has just proposed to live-in boyfriend, fellow actor Paulo, who insists they go back to his Italian village Civita di Bagnoregio for Easter, as Ant always does, to tell the good news to the parents, and have a celebration of a civil partnership in the family’s ancient mountain top village, where Ant’s dad (Diego Abatantuono) is the liberal-minded Mayor, happily welcoming and taking in refugees.

Antonio has first to tell his parents he’s gay before breaking the news about the civil partnership. Antonio hopes Dad will officiate at the civil partnership ceremony, which would be part of his job. But when he hears his son is gay and wants to tie the knot, the Mayor dad is not so liberal-minded, and refuses to officiate at the ceremony, infuriating Mom (Monica Guerritore), who quickly supports the boys and kicks him out of the house if he won’t support his son.

Mom will happily celebrate the wedding, but only if it happens in Civita, plus she will hire famous wedding planner Enzo Miccio; Dad must officiate the ceremony; and Paolo’s mother must attend. It’s a tall order.

When Dad refuses to perform the ceremony, the boys ask the help of the friendly local Franciscan monk, Father Francesco Palmisani (Antonio Catania), who offers to marry them in a deconsecrated ruined church if Dad fails to change his mind. Gay weddings are not allowed in Vatican-controlled Italy. The quest is on to make a town founded on religious tradition understand that love is love.

Puoi baciare lo sposo [My Big Gay Italian Wedding] is soft, soppy and sentimental, yet enjoyable and entertaining in the carefree mode. It manages to mix an easy-going La Cage Aux Folles update with some strong, focused views on Italian families, religion, prejudices, homophobia and general way of life. It does this serious stuff agenda in the guise of comedy, and quite skilfully. There are some excellent ingredients here, though some lesser ones, and it takes a few wrong turns, abandoning all reality by the end, which is a shame because it starts and proceeds pretty real in a comedic way.

The jealousy plot with Ant’s old girlfriend Camilla (Beatrice Arnera) turning up as a psycho-stalker, and the romance between the needy cross-dresser Donato (Dino Abbrescia) and the boys’ crazy flatmate and landlady Benedetta (Diana Del Bufalo), who both follow them to Italy, are both weak strands of the film.

The cross-dresser and the flatmate are the main comedy relief, and the actors do what’s asked of them well, stopping just short of annoying. The monk character stuff goes well, and his scenes with Dad are good. The climactic conflagration is impressive but it seems to take us in a different direction that the film struggles to handle. At any rate, there’s plenty going on, and the film’s good nature and warm heart see it through, plus the lively, attractive performances of Cristiano Caccamo, Diego Abatantuono, Monica Guerritore, and Salvatore Esposito. Cristiano Caccamo is sweet and charming as Ant and Diego Abatantuono a successful offbeat choice as Paolo. Monica Guerritore, and Salvatore Esposito add quite a bit of needed grit to proceedings.

It ends with a musical number – ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ – it is a gay comedy, after all.

Sometimes slack and silly, but more often funny and charming, overall it’s a success. It sells way of life beguilingly, a good advert for the Tourist Board. the Mayor says he wants to attract tourists to town, so this should do it. The mountain top village, with its huge bridge on stilts to get you there, is to die for.

Puoi baciare lo sposo is You can kiss the groom in English, instead of the traditional Puoi baciare la sposa, You can kiss the bride, of course.

The cinematographer is Federico Masiero, making the most of the spectacular town and the views.

My Big Gay Italian Wedding was released in Italy on 1 March 2018. Breaking Glass Pictures acquired US distribution rights that month.

It runs 91 minutes.

‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ was written by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff and Cary Gilbert, released in 1975 by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, covered by Thelma Houston in 1976 and British duo the Communards in 1986.

Civita di Bagnoregio.

Civita di Bagnoregio is an outlying village of the comune of Bagnoregio in the Province of Viterbo in central Italy, 120 kilometres north of Rome. Civita is inhabited by only 16 people, and the only access is a 1995 reinforced concrete pedestrian bridge from the nearby town of Bagnoregio.

Civita was Hayao Miyazaki’s inspiration for Studio Ghibli’s 1986 animated movie Castle in the Sky.

© Derek Winnert 2023 – Classic Movie Review 12,494

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com