Italy, Solo Mio, and the Power of the Pure

Somewhere in the distance
When we fall in love again
Planets will be dancing
The moon plays violin
We’ll laugh at all the silly things
That we’ve both said and done
And step into forever
On the bright side of the sun

Men Without Hats, Bright Side of the Sun

In 1987, Men Without Hats released a fancifully flighty album called Pop Goes the World. I loved it immediately. One of the tracks on the album was a modified cover of an old Italian love ballad called O Solo Mio which compares the face of the writer’s love with a bright, beautiful sun. On the album, Bright Side of the Sun, provides a poetic prelude to the peppy and poppier O Solo Mio.

I awoke to the song playing in my head this morning after watching the relatively new Kevin James movie, Solo Mio, last night. Spoiler alert. First of all, the movie was refreshingly wholesome. The characters were innocent without being boring or puritanical. The humor was clean without being lame. The plot was simple and farcical but still able to touch upon some of the wildly complex themes of love, loss, and relationship. The movie was real, entertaining, and emotionally engaging without tipping into the Hallmark zone or debasing itself with shock to draw attention.

For Sally and I, fresh off weeks in Italy, it was a visually stunning return to a place we have come to love. One of the first scenes of the movie introduces us to Kevin James’ character abandoned at the altar by his runaway fiancee. We immediately recognized the church as the Trinita dei Monti, a beautiful renaissance era basilica located at the top of the Spanish Steps, overlooking Rome’s historic center and a road that runs directly into the Vatican about 1.5 miles away. Just a few weeks ago, we celebrated Mass in that church and enjoyed a few remarks of the rector of the convent and retreat that is now operated by the Emmanuel Community who carries on its French lineage.

Let the memory reel role!

The film is filled with such beautiful sites captured in cinematography that is amazingly effective at conveying the scope and beauty many impossibly glorious places. Later, we see James sitting alone on the famous Spanish Steps, an impossibility for any regular visitor to the Piazza di Spagna which is always full of tourists mingling about and moving in between the luxury stores lining the narrow cobblestone streets. The promo photo gives a hint of the film’s eye for beauty, showing James sitting on a bench on an overlook with the massive dome of St. Peter’s Basilica looming in the background. It is a feast for the eyes.

James’s character, Matt, falls-in with two unlikely supporting characters played by Jonathan Roumie and the hilarious Kim Coates who are both on the honeymoon package tour Matt was supposed to take with his bride who isn’t. The men become entertaining foils for James as they come to represent the angel and devil voices for Matt, encouraging in mostly non-helpful but sincere and humorous ways. Of course, trouble ensues.

The unlikely twist is an unexpected romance that blossoms between Matt and a local Italian coffee shop owner, Gia, who is the sunshine of the movie. Gia’s character captures the essence of a beautifully hopeful and life-loving personality, full of energy, wonder, and joy. The scene moves to Tuscany as Matt offers his extra ticket to Gia and she unknowingly takes the place of his missing bride, traveling with Matt’s new friends, in their own imperfect marriages, on the honeymoon excursion.

Along the way, we are taken to the villa of Andrea Bocelli, who we discover is the uncle of Gia, and are treated with his beautiful music right in the middle of movie, as well as a rather funny duet sung with James shortly after. The Tuscan countryside burst onto the screen, creating its own sense of awe and wonder. Though I can’t say we saw any of the actual countryside shown in these scenes during our trip, I was transported to similar vistas in my own memory: sunrises, sunsets, and rolling beauty in between.

Reviews of the movie highlight its Catholic disposition – it is unapologetic in its depictions. From the destination wedding to be held in a Catholic Basilica to the Sign of the Cross appearing before Andrea Bocelli’s pre-meal prayer, to the priest throwing holy water on Bocelli’s horse pre-race in Siena, there is no escaping the thread. Most impressive is that the Catholicity of the movie and its characters flows lightly, neither encumbering nor shrugging, it just is. Present. Steady. Intertwined.

Oh yeah, Siena. A great addition to the visual splendor and story is the minor tie-in to the famous Palio horse race held twice a year since the 1600s in the walled city of Siena. The scope and pageantry of the event is captured beautifully, as we see the banners of the Goose, one of the 17 contrade of Siena, the wards or neighborhoods that mark the geography of the city and infuse local pride with a sense of identity. Oca, the Goose, is actually the current holder of the Palio title and shows through brightly in the images from these scenes. The Goose was also the the contrada of St. Catherine of Siena.

Conflict emerges as we move to the Palio but there is something moving more deeply underneath. I’m reminded again of Men Without Hats, O Solo Mio:

So high give me your love imagination
Run wild and tell me your mine, I can never remember your name
So high give me your heart hey guardian angels
More light I’m falling in love and I want to remember the way

There is a whimsy, passion, and innocence, to the storyline and its closing movements toward unity and resolution. Somehow, someway, James and fellow writers Charles and Daniel Kinnane, capture the essence of Italy in both its otherworldly oldness and the beautifully joyful possibility emerging in its landscapes, energy, and people – which the actress Nicole Grimaudo evinces wonderfully as Gia. The movie is able to move lightly across the heavy, give us the necessary tension of the conflict, and bring us to a happy close in an ending full of hopeful possibility.

The expression “solo mio” translates to “only mine” or “just mine.” The title comes from the misapplication of the expression by Kim Coates, suggesting that James’s character is all alone, which Gia later corrects for him. The movie is a movement through the sunshine of O Solo Mio, past “only mine,” and on to the shared experience of love and loss against the stunning backdrop of Italy. It does this while entertaining us, moving us, and reminding us that the pure, the wholesome, and the faithful doesn’t have to be boring or puritanical.

Thank you Angel Studios. Bravissomo!