Nous nous sommes tant aimes, we loved each other so much also known by its original Italian title: c’eravamo tanto amati is an Italian movie by Ettore Scola. This story describes four characters, Gianni, Antonio, Nicola and Lucianna who find each other after several years of disconnected relations. The movie portrays the friendship, the bonds, the fights and quarrels that this circle has been through the many years. Gianni, Antonio and Nicola combated in the war together and Lucianna had affiliations/love affairs with each of them. This movie highlights many of the common Italian clichés and has become one of the iconic Italian movies to this day.
This movie made several allusions to other great Italian works such as Ladri di biciclette by Vittorio De Sica, Rome ville ouverte… This movies’ style also resembles another great Italian chef-d’oeuvre, La Dolce Vita. In the review from dvdclassik, the style is mentioned as it revolutionized cinema culture. They also say that this movie remains timeless because of its political message and its virtuous humor. The movie is one of the classics because it discusses the evolution of the socio-culture in Italy.
In the review by blog-seb-cine.over-blog, the mise-en-scene is discussed in length. The setting, the lighting, the shots… were meticulously thought out for this movie and contributed to its success. Another aspect that was raised was the theme of friendship, bonds, love… which were so powerful. Then the political message. Each character was particularly invested in justice but acted in different ways to achieve their means. This movie criticized the rich social class, the corruption… The critic wrote that this movie avoided clichés, however I would disagree with him. Even though there were several, I think that there was a purpose, which made this a satire. Nonetheless, this aspect doesn’t remove from the masterpiece that it still is.
The third critic, by Dennis Schwartz, was quite informal and disliked the flashbacks and the use of color versus the black and white. He also didn’t appreciate how the actors would sometimes talk to the audience. I disagree with what he says because I find that those elements separate common style with a unique and fresher one.
Another reviewer commented on the comedy of the movie.
Finally, the review from the New York Times also criticized the title, as it seemed awkward. In the previous review from Schwartz, he had also mentioned that. Vincent Canby (the author of the review) raised an interesting concept. He said that in European movies, friendship seem to be a popular theme whereas “American producers are made uneasy by movies that are about friendship and that attempt to cover so much time”. The comedy and humor is also examined in his review.
Most of the reviews referred to the original style and the political message. “We wanted to change the world, but the world changed us,” The title seemed to bother some reviewers as it was awkwardly formulated. However, I much prefer the Italian title because it rings better to the ear. Most of the reviews were posted on American websites, so the discussion about friendship being the dominant theme was often dismissed. This movie was brilliantly filmed and set itself apart from all other Italian cinemas.
http://www.dvdclassik.com/critique/nous-nous-sommes-tant-aimes-scola
http://blog-seb-cine.over-blog.com/article-nous-nous-sommes-tant-aim%3Fs-83751695.html
http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/wealllovedeachothersomuch.htm
http://www.bestmoviesbyfarr.com/all-movie-picks/ceravamo-tanto-amati