DEAREST RELATIVES (Parenti Serpenti) (1992) - ♦♦♦♦

 

This is the story of siblings gathering from all parts of the country to spend the Christmas with each other in their native villages. While this may seem like a sweet premise written on paper, it is clear from the get go that the film is filled with bitterness and coldness, as each of the character is incredibly busy in trying to portray their lives as perfect and conceal their problems from one another. Yet, the biggest shock of all is reserved by the parents, after they request that one of their offsprings come forward and offer to take them in and look after them in their old age.

 

An ultimate anti-Christmas movie, set at a time that has often been used for totally opposed, light hearted and pleasent gimmicky means. Dearest Relatives not only aims and succeeds to defy such conventions, but is also incredibly and relentlessly bitter. Never does the film shy away from revealing the most cold and downright evil sides of each of the individuals, and it is not afraid to come across as judgemental by also defying the sacredness of the traditional family - and family traditions - particularly prevalent in the generally universally accepted Italian identity.

 

This film is, as mentioned before underrated not only as a comedy, and not only as one of Monicelli's most impressive works, but also as one of the helmer's most personal ones. Monicelli himself had always expressed in his films and in interviews somewhat of an unrestrained contept for families as a symbol of all the is sacred and good and remained a proud bachelor until his dying days. Incidentally, the relentlessness of the darkness of the comedy and the somewhat cathartic ending of the film can also be identifyable with the filmmaker's own fears about dependance, as he himself would commit suicide upon discovering a debilitating illness."