There is no shortage of films in which the plot revolves around a meal. In La Grande Bouffe, the dinner is a form of suicide. Food in Like Water for Chocolate is a means of seduction. Ribelli per caso is a deft comedy in which dining becomes rebellion against the medical establishment. The plot of any Food Film of necessity must be driven by two elements: the preparation and consumption of The Meal, and the interaction among the several characters involved in the process. Ribelli is set in a hospital ward. The patients are men of a variety of ages, occupations and social classes. They bond. As a gesture of defiance against the dietary restrictions of the gastrointestinal unit and the arrogance of the medical staff, they lock themselves in the ward and prepare and eat a huge dinner while family, physicians and police frantically attempt to stop them. This film could have been one more gastronomic cliche, but director/writer Vincenzo Terracciano neatly sidesteps all the inherent traps. With a light touch and a skilled ensemble of actors, he presents us with a bittersweet comedy about the assertion of one's humanity in the most de-humanizing of today's institutions: the hospital. Ribelli per caso puts a clever spin on a cinematic formula and invests this tired genre with an unexpected freshness.
Review of Ribelli per caso
