Easy Living (Orso & Peter Miyakawa, 2019): Italy

Reviewed by Cate Herrell. Viewed at the SBIFF 2020.

Listening to the Miyakawa brothers speak at the Santa Barbara Film Festival about their movie Easy Living made me excited to watch, as I headed to its screening as fast as possible. That morning they spoke of their journey into film, and their passion as well as their professionalism was inspiring to witness. Their film is in Italian, and foreign film can be hard to market to audiences who don’t speak the respective language, but hearing of the themes, ideas, and characters made it irresistible to me. With all that being said, Easy Living was the one film I was highly anticipating. It did not let me down!

Brando (James Miyakawa) is a fourteen year old boy living with his older sister Camilla (Camilla Semino Favro), who sells medicine she attains in France for a profit in Italy. Brando is inspired to aid a unique soul named Elvis (Alberto Boubakar Malanchino), who is an illegal migrant on his way to France in hopes of reuniting with his wife and baby, make it across the border safely. With the help of the ridiculous American tennis instructor residing in their town (Manoel Hudec), this unconventional group of friends works together to send Elvis on his way. 

The tough subject of immigration is tackled with an airy, loving, sometimes comical approach, keeping the audience viewing Elvis as a charismatic human, rather than give him the brand of “immigrant”. This is masterfully executed, and such important subjects should be shed in a new light more often in the cinema. The fact that this movie is largely in Italian does not change the themes, and in no way complicates an American viewer’s perspective when it comes to the subject matter. The American tennis instructor, Don, added a large amount of comedy to the screenplay, but also gave a beautiful monologue about the fact that “easy living” is not what it seems. There are intense moments of the film where it feels like you are right there with the characters, and the viewer roots for this unconventional group throughout the film’s duration, despite their individual flaws. 

The ending of the film had me on the edge of my seat, and I could feel the same longing as Brando, the anticipation Don and Camilla shared, and a mixture of both experienced by Elvis. 

I definitely recommend that you take the time to watch this movie. The themes presented are very universal, and I think that the underlying message is strong, but nurtured with good-hearted comedy and a lightness that balances the heavy weight of reality. The characters are all very likable, despite their imperfection, which is much like your friends and loved ones in real life. I think that the bond between the characters mixed with the mise-en-scene makes for a great film that could be shown to a wide audience. It is all of these factors that allow me to dub Easy Living as my favorite that I viewed at this year’s festival.