Italian for Beginners follows the lives of six people. Andreas, a young minister and widower temporarily assigned to a church whose suspended pastor drove parishioners away, stays at a hotel where he meets Jorgen, who is alone and approaching middle age. Jorgen's friend Finn, a temperamental restaurant manager, may be about to be fired. Finn's assistant is Giulia, a lovely young Italian who prays for a husband. Olympia, a clumsy bakery clerk, has an ornery father; and Karen, a hairdresser, has a very ill mother. The paths of these six characters cross at church, in the restaurant, at the hotel, and at an Italian class at the local adult school.

Although this film won't win any awards for technical achievements, it is certain to win your heart. It excels in its simplicity. The entire cast also provides impressive, seemingly heartfelt performances. Italian for Beginners is an interesting study of characters learning a language from another country by understanding themselves and people in the class. The film is quite slow-moving, but the plot is held together well as we delve into the characters' different lives and points of view.

Charlotte is a famous beautiful actress for whom everything happens. Her journalist husband Yvan is ignored in her presence, and this rather annoys his ego, but he copes with it ((mdash)) after all, he does have a gorgeous wife. But when a casual acquaintance asks him whether he minds his wife taking part in 'love scenes' (this movie's rating is for nudity and sex, and it deserves it), he realises that he does. Terence Stamp plays an ageing 'babe magnet' with some relish.

This film is typically French, with lots of unexplained happenings, and it has some funny scenes amongst the anguish of tormented love.