Film Forum

Stephen Amidon’s Connecticut-based novel is reimagined in the ultra-chic suburbs of Milan. The fortunes of an unscrupulous hedge fund manager, his sultry but enervated wife, and their spoiled-rotten teenage son become entwined with those of a struggling middle-class family whose daughter attends the same posh private school as their boy.  Director Paolo Virzì cleverly divides his film into four parts, telling a seemingly straightforward narrative (a bicyclist is the victim of a hit and run accident on a rainy night) from the point of view of three characters. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian calls the film “a shrewd portrait of status anxiety and avarice… with some great fancy footwork in the narrative and fierce satirical strokes that recall Tom Wolfe.”  The gorgeous Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (sister of Carla Bruni-Sarkozy) won Best Actress at the Tribeca Film Festival for her role. The film is Italy’s official submission for Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

ITALY / FRANCE • 2014 • 110  MINS. • IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • FILM MOVEMENT

Reviews

“Plunges a large spike into the heart of the Italian rich and its ravenous middle-class aspirants… Like some other recent Italian titles to hit the international market – including Nanni Moretti’s CAIMAN, Paolo Sorrentino’s GREAT BEAUTY and Matteo Garrone’s GOMORRAH and REALITY – HUMAN CAPITAL is itself a chapter in the story of Berlusconi-era cinema… Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, whose beautifully nuanced performance as Carla, Giovanni’s pampered, confused wife, brings the movie to clamorous, soulfully messy life. From the moment that Ms. Bruni Tedeschi teeters into the story on sky-high heels, perched for a tremendous fall, she grabs your attention only to then steal the entire movie with a wild, frantic and touchingly broken humanity.”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“Constantly hovering on the knife edge between comedy and tragedy. Riveting.”
– Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine online / Vulture

“Critics’ Pick! Thrillingly crashes lives together.  (A) lashing satiric drama. Stylish. At first you’ll seethe – then your heart will ache.”
– Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

“Paolo Virzì’s acidic Italian drama…can be read a variety of ways: as a low-key class comedy, a message drama, a formal exercise in cinematic fandom, or just a twisty thriller.  Simultaneously an opulent prestige drama and a gritty noir.  It feels like a quintessential Italian drama, drawing on classical and modern Italian politics and cinema…(with) terrific character actors.”
– Tasha Robinson, The Dissolve

“Virzì’s touch is light, as it was in CATERINA IN THE BIG CITY, and his attitude toward his female characters is clearheaded but warm. He’s also done a deft job of fitting together a jigsaw-puzzle picture out of his source material, transposing a novel by Stephen Amidon from the American suburbs to the hills of Lombardy.”
– Stuart Klawans, The Nation

“A shrewd portrait of status anxiety and avarice. Some great fancy footwork in the narrative and fierce satirical strokes that recall Tom Wolfe.”
– Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian (UK) 

“A slick, stylish drama. Starts as a class critique wrapped around a whodunit… Engrossing, stinging. The performances are flawless. Perfectly cast with actors who give life to very recognizable Italian types. Confirms Paolo Virzi as one of the more dynamic directors on the peninsula, blending biting commentary with expert narrative skills.”
– Jay Weissberg, Variety