The cover of the video disc made me think that this was going to be a lush, sexy tale of romance. Instead, it was a poorly-filmed, poorly-written, poorly-acted soap opera about a bunch of people in a Danish town who meet as a result of a little-attended Italian language class. This premise might have still worked if it were done right, but it looks like a home movie, and it seems the people who praise it are the ones who think any film that doesn't come from Hollywood is a great classic.It's not a classic, not even in a "so-bad-it's-good" sense. The plot is about a recently-widowed pastor hired for the town church to fill in for the regular one who has been suspended, and other major characters include a hairdresser with a dying mother, a bakery employee who keeps dropping things and who has an obnoxious dying father, an obnoxious and self-absorbed young restaurant manager, an Italian waitress who wants a husband, and other similarly clichéd characters who are neither developed nor likable. The story jumps from one scene to another, featuring a few mild laughs but no actual good parts. After two-thirds of the way I just gave up, deciding there would be no payoff.You cannot always judge a DVD by its cover, or by the fact that it is called a "classic". Beware of that term; you might be disappointed.

The Dogme 95 manifesto was a call for a return to a naturalistic style of film-making; but the first film made according to its principles, Lars von Trier's 'The Idiots', was a playful attack on every convention of film in spite of its basic technical nature. 'Italian for Beginners' is more like what one might expect a Dogme film to resemble, if one hadn't seen 'The Idiots' first: a portrait of everyday life, told without artificial over-embellishment. And it works. On one had, this is a story of the misery of lonely people living in a grey northern town; on the other, the shape of a potential happy ending is visible quite early on. And yet there's something believable in the performances, as well as a sly sense of humour, that enables the movie to transcend its modest proposition and genuinely warm the heart, a story of ordinary people regaining their confidence in life after hard times. If every film was like this one, you might find yourself longing for a bit more ambition; but in a world full of empty noise, it's nice to see a movie whose director seemed to care about making his film ring true.

OMFG i've seen some good dogma films before and i think the dogma films are just normal films trying to be different, but this one is bad enough to make me post a comment. IFB is like the regular romantic films but much more embarrassing, with all those poker faces and people looking for true love. The actors seemed to be doing the same scene again and again, the bakery girl should have end up tired throwing things in the floor in her real life, after taking about impotency that much that actor should be gay rigth now, the pastor looks so confused you get tired of waiting for him to do something. The characters are so shortlined and shortwritten that you only need one scene to know how they are and what they will do, so cliché. There's not a single one touching scene like in the other dogma films, here scenes are so fake that you can only laugh (or cry), for example the father of the stupid bakery girl, he said two phrases: "Your mother left me and you are like her: a b1tch", and he repeated this again and again till he died. This film ranks Meg Ryans hits but with dizzy camera of course.

This is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding romantic comedies at the beginning of the decade. A Dogma 95 film, this movie exemplifies the challenges put up by the group of film makers that created Dogma 95 in Copenhagen. DOGMA 95 counters the individual film by the principle of presenting an indisputable set of rules known as THE VOW OF CHASTITY. The rules (10 in all) include principles such as: shooting must be done on location (scenes in Venezia) and on a sound stage used to rehearse Sound of Music--an auditorium where the Italian classes are held. Music should not be used unless it occurs where hte scene is being shot (how refreshing not to have Hollywood scores interrupting the natural sound). Hand-held camera-- this produces a feeling that you are doing the filming yourself. I felt that when Andreas was swimming in the hotel pool. Special lighting is not acceptable -- again the auditorium and the lights. Or the restaurant lighting. The characters in this movie are so real one feels you have met them before. You can read the plot elsewhere if you haven't seen this movie. There are pairings in this movie that show romance at its best -- forgiveness for the foible (Olympia was probably born with fetal alcohol syndrome-- Andreas understands this and near the end when he suggests she sing in the church choir, he suggests they prepare for her falling over into the pews. Giulia's budding love for Jorgen Mortensen is a treat -- little prayers in the kitchen -- and rehearsal for the big moments. This movie even treats impotence with the gentleness and humor and understanding that the best of life can deal. Perhaps most erotic is the scene where Karen washes Hal-Finn's hair in her salon -- ummmm! Not enough can be said about this movie. So to cut it short -- go see it -- watch it several times. A magical experience awaits -- where real people with real foibles find real connection.