Film Review: I Am Love / Io Sono L'Amore [dir. Luca Guadagnino; 2009]

It features a scene in which an extra-marital affair is brought to light by a bowl of soup (no, I'm not kidding), but that's about as original as things get in I Am Love, an over-wrought examination of the relationships between the various members of a wealthy Milanese family. The link between food and sensuality is made thunderingly obvious throughout the film, not least in a sequence where the central character responds to a plate of prawns with such enthusiasm, you wonder if the crustaceans came from a branch of Ann Summers rather than the local fish market. If it is worth watching, then it's purely for Tilda Swinton's central performance: the actress displays her tremendous range with unostentatious ease, adding much needed subtlety and control to proceedings. Otherwise, this is pretty ordinary fare, made less palatable by unnecessary visual flourishes.