Movie Review: Toscana
Toscana is a Danish romance comedy drama from writer-director Mehdi Avaz, starring Anders Matthesen and Cristiana Dell’Anna. The story follows a Danish chef who travels to Tuscany in order to sell his father’s estate, only to meet a local who inspires him to rethink his past and future when it comes to life and love.
While Toscana may be a typical romance comedy drama in its basic plot around a man and woman’s chance meeting, set against the picturesque backdrop of Tuscany, it diverges in a number of ways. The fresh spin is around the handling of the would-be romance, serving as a character portrait with romance and travelogue as secondary objectives. This unusual weighting makes Toscana about a man’s struggle with forgiveness as well as inspiration when it comes to falling in love with a local woman, a new menu and another country.
Depending on your expectations of Toscana, this could leave you at odds, unsatisfied if expecting a predictable and comfortable travel romance or skeptical about the film’s ambitions as a full-fledged character portrait. For the most part, Toscana finds a balance between the two, compelled by a disgruntled chef’s attempts to reach a lonesome perfection through his restaurant business and offset by the unfurling of an unexpected romance. Straddling these genres, Toscana finds substance every step of the way, using food as a metaphoric storytelling device.
Anders Matthesen plays the stern Theo Dahl, a chef who’s unapologetically himself, trying to make a quick sale to forget his absent father and move on with life. Matthesen has a melancholy, reminiscent of Russell Crowe, who followed a similar story in A Good Year but in Provence. As he quickly realises, selling the historic estate is much more complicated than expected, further muddied by the slow discovery of his father’s true legacy. Reliving painful memories, Theo finds catharsis and inspiration from the rustic restaurant and a new romantic interest in Sophia.
Anders Matthesen and Cristiana Dell’Anna don’t have typical chemistry, starting off in an adversial dynamic before slowly aligning their mission to revive the boutique restaurant and estate. Instead of a cute-meet and cookie-cutter “romcom” formula, Toscana offers an earnest, more realistic and even messy depiction of an unlikely relationship with a bittersweet undertone, offering up a life-like ebb-and-flow. This means some things remain unresolved and that may irk some audiences, especially in light of its ellipsis ending.
“Life, oh life, oh life, oh life… doo doo doo doo.”
Toscana isn’t exactly a feel good film but does effectively portray a soulful journey and reawakening. Centred on Matthesen, an impending wedding on the estate does cast some shade on his budding friendship with Sophia. Through their teamwork in reimagining the menu and sourcing the best ingredients they find a kinship that threatens to destabilise everything when real motivations are finally revealed.
From its fine dining cuisine to beautiful Tuscan vistas, Toscana does serve as a lush and sensory travelogue. This enhances the story, mingling with the storytelling to enchant its lead as well as its audience. The film creates a wonderful contrast between his cold, clinical kitchen in Denmark and the warm, rustic and homely kitchen in Italy. As Theo opens his eyes to the magic of the region, he softens to new possibilities in almost every arena, confronted with the promise of a fresh start.
There are a few moments that could have used more spit and polish but Toscana’s unconventional approach, unpredictable nature and bittersweet tone give the movie more substance than is typically expected with this kind of travel romance drama. While it’s far from exuberant and giddy, much like it’s lead in Matthesen, it amounts to a picturesque and entertaining film of many layers.
The bottom line: Bittersweet
