Bread & Tulips

In this charming example of uncomplicated escapism for astute adults, a dissatisfied Italian housewife (Licia Maglietta) finds unexpected freedom and a new life in a quiet, romantic corner of Venice when she's left behind at a tour bus stop while on vacation with her burdensome family. Co-writer/director Silvio Soldini lends emotional significance to what could have been a trifle of a story as our heroine meets a sad, compassionate, poetic man (Bruno Ganz), hides from an amateur detective sent by her husband, and wonders how long it will be before her conscience calls her home. Refreshingly, the film is not weighed down with the kind of moist sentimentality that frequently accompanies such life-examining allegories. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)