Queen Of Hearts

An Extraordinarily Charming Deck Of Human Cards
QUEEN OF HEARTS. One of the most charming films of the 80's. It's a happy, sad, tragic, comic and glorious film about an Italian immigrant family living in England, filled with the kind of characters that used to be so common in 30's and 40's films when we had character actors who played outrageous, over-the-top parts.

The story opens in Italy where Danilo steals Rosa away on her wedding day from the man her mother had chosen for her. Their escape plays with the action of a Republic serial but with a totally unexpected comic ending. The two flee to London where Danilo is given the secret to winning at cards from a talking stuffed pig on a meat platter. But his success is short lived and he and his family soon turn to running a coffee shop that is only marginally successful.

The rest of the film is taken up with marriage and family and the adventures of life that happened while they wait for that lucky break-----------and it happens with an extraordinary event that pulls joy from...

A wonderful, magical movie experience
A strange and magical movie, full of wonder. At its bare bones it's about an Italian family who runs a coffee shop in London. But it's so much more than that. In a magnificent opening sequence, our hero (Joseph Long) and heroine (Anita Zagaria) elope in Italy by leaping from a church tower onto a haywagon. By eloping Zagaria has broken her engagement to another man, who swears revenge. They go to London, set up their little coffee shop, have a bunch of kids (one of them is the narrator of the movie) - and must confront the jilted man in the end. The movie unfolds masterfully, with many different plot lines meshing together, but never obscuring the main story. It's a total joy to watch: funny, warm, and delightful. Definitely worth a watch.

A Treasure
This is such a beautfiul movie. my only complaint is that it has not come out on DVD (sigh). It got short shift in the theaters because it was overshadowed by Cinema Paradiso, to which it bears some sweet similaritiesl. It is just such a moving film about family and the immigrant experience.

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