The makers of this film deserve every accolade that is written praising their work! "Ciao" is a truly remarkable film! What a pleasure to see a work of art that is not ashamed to deal with a sensitive theme in a tasteful and - to quote a word used in the script - UNcheesy - way. The script, acting, direction, lighting, editing and casting are all excellent. Overall the work achieves all that it sets out to do: tell a real life drama in a way that we VERY seldom see from Hollywood. "Ciao" does so with sensitivity, realism and genuine empathy for real human fears, joy, sadness and compassion. There is none of your usual quickly flashed, clichéd camera-work, or clever lines that pander to mediocrity and formula. "Ciao" is a film that takes its time to reveal the inextricably entangled knot of emotion, history, motive, intent, reactions, fate and timing that are a part of real life. What is particularly rewarding is that it does not rely on formula to tell the story. It is a film that is highly recommended to anyone who is a serious student of cinema as an art form. It sings as an echo to another great film by Woody Allen - "Interiors." The music, and indeed the lack of music in many of the scenes is beautifully apt and innovative. "Ciao" reminds us that we are too dependent on anticipation to make us feel comfortable. Art does not have the purpose of making us feel comfortable; art has the purpose of showing us reality and making us relate to that in the way we can best understand it. "Ciao" does this.
