Directed with humour and humanity by Silvio Soldini, this is a delightful midlife rebellion comedy, set against the glorious vistas of Venice. Accidentally abandoned by her lowbrow family on a cut-price coach tour, Licia Maglietta decides to treat herself to an adventure and finds professional fulfilment in an elderly anarchist's flower ship and unexpected romance with Icelandic waiter Bruno Ganz. The all-round geniality is reinforced by the amiably bungling performance of Giuseppe Battiston, as the inept plumber/private eye hired by Maglietta's incrementally desperate husband (Antonio Catania) to track her down. But there's also a sharp socio-political subtext, which sets it apart from the less abrasive Shirley Valentine.