>

See all of Gerald's Reviews

Gerald Wright's Movie Coverage

CIAO MOVIE REVIEW

Directed by: Yen Tan
Running time : 87 minutes
Release date: December 5, 2008
Genre: Drama, Art/Foreign (In English/Italian/Mandarin with English subtitles)
Distributor: Regent Releasing
MPAA Rating: R
Format: HDCam, Digital Betacam (U.S.)

CIAO is a tale of love involving a gay atmosphere, death, and the making of a sincere friendship from the origins of an online chat. The setting is Dallas, Texas-Mark (Chuck Blaum) dies in a car accident, and his best friend Jeff (Adam Neal Smith) is left to mourn. While Jeff mourns Marks' death and thinks about his close relationship with the late Mark, a carefree and warm-hearted gay man, Jeff checks the inbox on Mark's computer and stumbles across an online romance between him and an Italian named Andrea (Alessandro Calza). Jeff in a whim decides to correspond and exchange emails with Andrea and inform him of Marks' death.

The story develops as Jeff and Andrea exchange personal information about each other. A rapport grows and the film moves into a very sensitive and sincere film. The nature of the plot explores how Mark's life touched everyone. This is when the small cast exploit their brilliant and truly genuine performances. Andrea had planned a trip to Dallas to meet Mark personally. Jeff invites Andrea to Texas and a gentle pace in their relationship begins. The scenes move quickly with interactions with Jeffs' stepsister Lauren (Ethel Lung) who is the only family member that lives near him. She consoles him as he reflects on his late best friends' life. All the while, Jeff finds a strong fondness for Andrea.

Over a short period of time during Andrea's visit, the film explores the witty conversations between the two men. Jeff, an American, is a reserved person and Andrea, an Italian, is a worldly wise young man. The opposites attract and their strong bond is linked to a tragic death.

It is hard to believe this light hearted story is also a story of grief, because gradually the plot takes the audience into a birth of a relationship upon the death of another. One of the unexpected stylistic elements of this fine movie is the fascinating technique the director employs in which he uses negative space in numerous scenes. This technique gives the actors more dialogue and more exposure to the camera. The theme of the film became clear it would be an emphasis of intimacy.

This a very thoughtful film with fine performances and has a clear message that often death brings new horizons to life.

FILM RATING (B-)