NOBODY faces a death in the family quite like Nanni Moretti, Italy’s superstar actor-director.
In “The Son’s Room” (2001), he coped with a loss of a son. Now, in “Quiet Chaos,” helmed by Antonello Grimaldi, he faces the demise of his wife.
After a hectic day at the beach, during which Moretti’s middle-age Pietro and his hunky brother, Carlo, save two women from drowning, Pietro returns to his summer house to find his young wife dead and their 10-year-old daughter, Claudia, in hysterics.
Pietro’s method of coping is unusual. He delivers Claudia to school each morning, then camps out in a park across the street waiting for classes to let out.
While there, Pietro strikes up tentative friendships with a modelesque young woman who passes by as she walks her dog and a boy with Down syndrome.
Moretti gives his usual excellent performance. But the script throws in too many other elements — a big merger at the office, a wacky sister-in-law and a gratuitous sex scene — while it should be concentrating on the father-daughter relationship.
Stick around till the end. You don’t want to miss an unexpected cameo from a filmmaker I won’t name. Hint: He’s short, likes younger women and isn’t Woody Allen.
In Italian, with English subtitles. Running time: 107 minutes. Not rated (sex, nudity). At the IFC Center.