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Solino

Solino

Movie · 2002 · 4 people

Fatih Akın directed Solino, a 2002 German-Italian film that blends drama and comedy. It is the first film Akın did not write himself; the screenplay is by Ruth Toma. The film is spoken in German and Italian, runs 124 minutes and carries the poster line "Brothers are the closest friends... and the bitterest rivals". It was nominated for Best Feature Film at the German Film Awards. In Turkey it opened on 4 March 2005, after Akın's Duvara Karşı.

The story follows the Amato family from the small town of Solino in Apulia, southern Italy, between 1964 and 1984, in snapshots ten years apart. Romano and Rosa take their sons Gigi and Giancarlo to Duisburg in Germany's Ruhr region and open the district's first pizza parlour. Romano takes to running a restaurant quickly, but Rosa's homesickness never fades. The brothers enjoy the freedom of the new surroundings; when both fall for the same woman, rivalry comes between them and Gigi starts weighing a return to Solino with his mother. Moritz Bleibtreu and Barnaby Metschurat lead, with Gigi Savoia and Antonella Attili also in the cast.

Wüste Film produced it. One critic compares the film to the Turkish migration experience in Germany, with its homesickness, neighbourliness and shared tastes.

DirectorFatih Akın
Production companyWüste Film

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Cast

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Moritz Bleibtreu Moritz Bleibtreu Film actor · 55 years old Patrycia Ziółkowska Actor · born 1979 Adam Bousdoukos Adam Bousdoukos Actor · 52 years old Andreas Thiel Actor · 1957 – 2006

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Through different eyes

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Solino covers twenty years, from 1964 to 1984, in snapshots taken a decade apart, and patiently traces what migration does to a family. The Amatos come from southern Italy to Duisburg and open the district's first pizza parlour, turning the struggle to take root in a new country into a concrete story. The contrast between Romano, who adapts quickly, and Rosa, whose homesickness never eases, is a reality migrant families know well. For Turkish viewers it carries extra weight: as one critic pointed out, its homesickness, neighbourliness and shared tastes bring it very close to the Turkish migrant experience in Germany.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Solino is a warm film you can watch as a family. It has both comedy and drama. It tells of a family moving to another country, a mother missing home and two brothers who compete with each other. Themes like the brothers falling for the same woman speak more to teens and adults than to young children. At 124 minutes it may feel a bit long for little ones. Families with relatives in Germany will see a lot of themselves in it.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Being the first film Fatih Akın did not write himself gives Solino a place of its own in his body of work. Ruth Toma's script splits twenty years into snapshots a decade apart; that structure gives the family saga a broad sweep, but it also forces the characters' changes to happen in jumps. Despite the bold line on the poster, the rivalry between the brothers never gets as sharp as I expected. Mixing German and Italian, on the other hand, is a lovely choice that carries the feeling of migration in the language itself. Moritz Bleibtreu makes a reliable centre. At 124 minutes it runs a little long; even so, it is worth seeing for anyone who wants a gentler, more melancholy Akın.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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