Susan Granger’s review of “It’s Easier For a Camel…” (New Yorker Films)
Taking its title from Matthew 19:24: “It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” this tragicomedy examines the life, the daydreams and the overwhelming guilt of a young Parisian woman who is far too wealthy. The burden of inherited money lies heavily on Federica (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), as she compulsively confesses to a bewildered priest (Pascal Bongard). Her devoted father (Roberto Herlitzka) is dying, and its up to dutiful Federica, her jealous sister Bianca (Chiara Mastroianni) and playboy brother (Lambert Wilson) to comfort their mother (Marysa Borini). Meanwhile, Federica’s discontented with her live-in, working-class boy-friend (Jean-Hughes Anglade) and trysting with a former lover (Denis Podalydes) who, distressingly, has a wife and son. Revealing a deft sense of humor in this unabashed, seemingly uncensored self-portrait, French actress-turned-writer/director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi draws from her own experiences as part of a privileged Italian family that immigrated to France in the 1970s, adroitly interweaving fantasy and fun with the fragile truth of reality. And in a bit of clever casting, her on-screen mother is played by her real-life mother. Minus the usual coherent plotline, the film consists entirely of illustrative anecdotes focusing on Federica’s various relationships and yearning for freedom. And as the various affectionately amusing vignettes illustrate, money has clearly not brought happiness to this eccentric, emotionally crippled clan. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “It’s Easier For a Camel…” is a charming, insightful 6 with an endearing touch of obsessive, imaginative madness.
