I had forgotten that Italian for Beginners is actually a rather sad film, about sad people leading depressing lives. I had mostly remembered its sweetness and the well-portrayed awkwardness of the characters and was unpleasantly surprised by its darkness. Dimitra, whom I had recommended the film as ‘a very sweet film’, thought I had confused it with something else. It still was a sweet film though, albeit in a slightly cheesy way. But that wasn’t a cheap trick of the script writers; rather, it fitted in well with the characters’ lives.

“Are you married?”
“No. But I do a course in Italian.”