'Loose Cannons' well worth catching

Director: Ferzan Ozpetek

Cast: Riccardo Scamarcio, Ennio Fantastichini, Alessandro Prezcosi

Cert: 15

Ozpetek, a Turkish director who has become a big hitter in his adopted Italy, often uses gay themes in his films, as here where he fashions a heart-warming, poignant, witty and highly observant story of a dysfunctional family and the problem of trying to make other people happy.

Tommaso (Scamarcio) returns to his home town of Lecce, in the conservative south, from Rome where he plans to reveal to his family that he is gay, a piece of news he is well aware his traditional father will not take kindly to.

But he finds his brother Antonio (Prezcosi) has beaten him to it – with the paternal results he expected – and he must now take on the role of the ‘good’ son and watch his brother live the life he wants to live.

The film is sympathetic to its subject matter and characters and is well worth catching.

Star Rating: 4/5