A Second Childhood (Una Sconfinata Giovinezza) (M)

Lino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) and his wife Chicca (Francesca Neri) lead a happy life and are satisfied with their marriage and their careers. He is a sports editor and she is a professor of medieval languages. Their only regret is not having children but even that seems to have strengthened their relationship. Unexpectedly, Lino`s memory problems aggravate until he is diagnosed with a degenerative illness affecting his brain cells. So begins the slow process of a man drifting from his present and regressing to his childhood. Throughout, Chicca stands by her husband, sharing his regression and nurses him as the child they never had. Filled with evocative childhood flashbacks, this is both a moving love story and a thoughtful, melancholy study of Alzheimer`s from the writer director Pupi Avati. Since the mid-60s, this prolific filmmaker has made almost 40 films and TV works which are always a favourite at the festival with mature audiences.