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

Reviewed by Lily Papke. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Easy Living is a coming of age drama comedy set in Italy. It was directed by two brothers Peter and Orso Miyakawa. Although this film was filmed and released in Italy, Peter actually went to school at UCSB for film and media studies while Orso lived in LA. Once he graduated from school they decided to move back to Italy and write this script. It is quite a family film considering their father owns a production company called Wise, which produced this film, and then their little brother stars as the main character.

The film accompanies a fourteen year old boy named Brando, played by James Miyakawa, and a journey that presents itself from unexpected friendships. It all starts when he goes to visit his sister Camilla, acted by Camilla Semino Fevro, who illegally transports goods from France to Italy and vise versa. They end up befriending a dorky American tennis player named Don and an illegal immigrant named Elvis who wishes to cross the border to be reunited with his wife and newly born child. All four of them create a strong bond and decide to help Elvis cross the border, risking jail time.

The movie is filled with vibrant colors and good lighting which creates a beautiful aesthetic. I noticed that comedy was used throughout the film but instead of saying jokes it was more shown through visuals and the situation itself. By making certain scenes just so ridiculous, in a good way, it brought laughter to the audience. At the start of the film, I thought the tennis player was weird and a little creepy but as the story goes on I actually started to feel and root for him. That shows how as the story progresses so does his character. Peter and Orso did a great job at changing Don overtime.

However, I really wish they gave us more backstory on all of the characters. I felt like there were some major plot holes in the storyline. For example, when Elvis wakes up from a nightmare, they never tell us why that happened or why he is an immigrant in the first place. I also feel like the ending was a bit anticlimactic. Everything was leading to them crossing the border but they didn’t include it in the film. I did like how we got to see some cultural differences in this film from the US. During a scene Camilla tans on the beach without a bikini top on while laying next to her brother which is something Americans don’t really do. This shows Italians are more open with their sexuality and are comfortable with nudity.

Overall, this was a funny movie to watch with great visuals. I would recommend seeing it if you have the chance!