Emma is a Russian woman married and integrated into a traditional Northern-Italian family, who has completely hidden herself underneath her social class rituals, and built her identity indirectly, not as herself, but as wife, mother, in-law, lady of the house, and so on. Her life will change, first, when her artist daughter Betta decides to follow a path that is not the one her family expected from her, and, secondly, when she meets the much younger and shy cook Antonio.
The movie is very well acted, especially by the always convincing Tilda Swinton, who perfectly embodies frigid Emma. Tilda's Italian is limited, but her silences are very well interpreted, and she really succeeds at portraying Emma's locked personality. Also believable, and very sweet, is Flavio Parenti as her favourite son "Edo", director-turned-actor Edoardo Gabbriellini as chef Antonio, and Alba Rohrwacher as Betta. Correct in their roles are Pippo Delbono as Emma's husband Tancredi, and Marisa Berenson as the matriarch of the family Allegra Recchi. Gabriele Ferzetti is great as the rigid family patriarch Edoardo Recchi Sr., while Maria Paiato truly shines in her performance of in-servant Ida.
The film has an extremely beautiful cinematography, wardrobe, house settings, and, most importantly, an exquisite OST, without which the movie would have been less intriguing and moody. The original soundtrack by John Adams is progressive and minimalist - Nyman, Glass or Yan Thiersen's style. However, the live sound of the movie is terrible, as most Italian films. The atmosphere is decadent, has the uber-style of a decoration magazine, with its beautiful but not-lived-in sets, which complement the sense of alien perfection and inner detachment that Emma feels at home.
The film has a pace that is too slow, unnecessarily. Moreover, it has a deja-vu sort of feeling; this is expected and intentional, as we are dealing with the sort of patriarchal rich family and the visual flamboyance that you will find in Visconti's movies, although revamped and updated.
The visuals of the movie are over-curated, while the study of the main characters is, to me, under-curated. It should have been the opposite as the characters make the story. The viewer is never told why Emma the Russian needed to erase herself to fit in, how that erasure happened, and why that happened at the most intimate levels of her personality. On the other hand, the role of food in the movie is, supposedly, pivotal in the re-awakening of Emma's senses and in channelling her dissatisfaction, but the movie never succeeds at just showing that. We see that she loves cooking and food, and especially Antonio's food, but the story never goes beyond the obvious.
I found the movie completely pretentious at times, lacking in depth, over-charged with romantic stereotypes, and lack of refinement in the building of some of the characters, still well performed, beautifully cinematographed, and intriguing enough to keep you watching and enjoy it. You get the feeling that you are watching a very good movie, but the more you analyse it, the more you become aware that the style of the movie, and not its substance, is what is captivating your senses, and that you have watched the movie and don't really now who most of the main characters are beyond their social and family constrictions.
