The Hummingbird

Francesca Archibugi gives us an excellent film adaptation of Sandro Veronesi’s seemingly unfilmable family epic with a potent, life-affirming Tuscan film gem about impossible love, painful losses, and stillness in a world of chaos.

The doctor Marco Carrera is called the Hummingbird, since he seems able to stand absolutely still in a world under total transformation. Since growing up at his family’s Tuscan beach house, he has had a secret Platonic romantic relationship with Luisa, and decades later his wife remains unaware of the affair. But the unavoidable revelation has unforeseen consequences for all involved. Marco Carrera’s miraculous life and his peculiar relationships ensure an exuberant film interpretation in this epic, non-linear family saga about the bourgeoisie’s discrete and dysfunctional charm.

• Olle Agebro