This was an interesting take on a typical romance film.
Meg Johnson (Olivia de Haviland) and her daughter, Clara (Yvette Mimieux) are visiting Italy where she meets by happenstance and then by pre-arranged coincidence a native Italian Fabrizio (George Hamilton) who is able to ignore Clara's disability. Clara was kicked by a horse when she was ten and it left her with permanent brain damage and forever largely stuck with the mind of that ten-year-old. But they fall in love anyway as they both still seem to be on the same page despite the language barrier. Still, Meg decides to end it but after her husband, Noel (Barry Sullivan) comes to visit them in Rome and decides that an adult care facility is the best place for her so Meg decides to gamble and takes Clara back to Florence where her relationship with Fabrizio continues at warp speed. However, after glancing at Clara's passport, Fabrizio's father (Rossano Brazzi) abruptly walks out before they sign paperwork with the priest. In yet another twist, it turns out that Clara is roughly six years older than Fabrizio and in another twist, it appears that Fabrizio is also slightly mentally handicapped and is actually twenty-three. So they get married and appear to be very happy and Meg feels comfortable with her decision so everyone is happy and I guess the viewer is as well.
While De Haviland received most of the praise for her performance, certainly one of the best of her career, I found Mimieux to be better with a more difficult one, having to act like a ten-year-old and having meltdowns in public. The plot was also good with two interesting twists, ones that I couldn't predict which is always nice. And the scenery and cinematography is very lush actually filming in Italy. While I wouldn't consider this a must-watch, it was a great film nevertheless. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-I don't think dogs should drink tea.
-The film needed to show more of the toil Clara's issues had on her parents' marriage.
-The important issue of faith is also hinted at as it should have been, it was nice to see that finally being brought into a film.
-Despite Clara's issues, she seems to be able to pick up a foreign language very quickly.
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