The Etruscan Smile, based on the novel by Jose Luis Sampedro - 7 out of 10

The Etruscan Smile, based on the novel by Jose Luis Sampedro
7 out of 10


The jury of The Boston Film Festival considered The Etruscan Smile so accomplished that they gave it  two prizes, including the one for Best Cast.

Yours truly must have seen a different motion picture.
For although The Etruscan Smile definitely has something to offer, its quality is not overwhelming.

Audiences could indeed feel challenged to meditate on the value of life, the brevity of the time we have on earth, the need to savor every moment and Carpe Diem.
I could refer to Dostoyevsky and his final three minutes, before the execution squad.

He was pardoned at the last moment and he writes about the feelings of the men condemned to death in his masterpieces.
The experience of the hero of this feature is less compelling, although Rory MacNeil aka Brian Cox is also facing a death sentence.

The protagonist has terminal cancer and travels from the Hebridean island to San Francisco to reunite with his son.
In spite of the impulse to feel compassion for the very sick man, his character makes it hard, nay, impossible to like him for more than a few moments and this affects the appreciation of the film, which becomes a rather unpleasant proposal.

First of all, the dying man has a competition with another inhabitant of the island:

Let us see who dies first!

They have a history of revenge and viciousness, the hero accusing the other of having killed the dog of his son.
He has not buried the corpse, instead, after it became rotten, it took it to the door of the alleged criminal.

In San Francisco, he celebrates the death of his rival and his victory, which resides in having a few more weeks to live.
Some may find this alluring, perhaps funny in a morbid way, but I just felt like watching something else.

This peculiar character has a penchant, no, an obsession for very bizarre things...
From blood sausage - he asks at the grocery for the bloodiest one - to swimming naked in public and therefore getting the police to take him home with a warning.

The Hebridean insults the doctor, takes his grandson out and nearly kills him, tells Claudia aka Patricia Arquette that he never apologized to any woman...

Are we really supposed to like this man?
Well, I guess we are, for otherwise why on earth would we watch to see him expire?

His son is not pleasant either and the actor playing him struggles.
The daughter in law, I mean the actress has been great in American Beauty, but there is not much to admire in her performance here.

Frankly, there are more flaws to be listed, but what would be the point?
Let us just conclude that in my opinion, this film is to be avoided.