Film Review: "Mascarpone"

This 2021 romantic comedy is a fun little confection about the joys and perils of self-discovery.

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Warning: Spoilers follow!

I first heard about the 2021 Italian film Mascarpone when I was putting together a list about films that focus on divorce. Since it looked like a fun watch–and, let’s face it, because the poster had two very cute Italian boys on it–I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did, because the film is a fun and frothy little confection, and it reminded me a lot of the types of indie gay dramedies that were such a staple of my film viewing in the mid-2000s, except with better production values. 

When the film begins Antonio (Giancarlo Commare) is (he thinks) happily married to Lorenzo (Carlo Calderone). When the latter arrives home it’s clear that something is amiss, the full extent of it isn’t revealed until his husband reveals that he is no longer in love with him and wants a divorce. Antonio moves out and moves in with the free-spirited (but also strangely sad) Denis (Eduardo Valdarnini), starts an apprenticeship under brooding and sultry baker Luca (Gianmarco Saurino) and tries to figure out what do with his life both professionally and romantically.

Giancarlo Commare is almost ridiculously charming and beautiful as Antonio, a curly-haired twink who has clearly never really thought about what he wants out of his life in either a romantic or a professional sense. Instead, as becomes clear throughout the film, he has always relied on others to give his life a shape and sense of purpose. At first it seems as if he is going to repeat this mistake when he moves in with Denis, who is everything that Antonio is not: he swans about his flat wearing a kimono, he has sex with any man that he likes, and is just a general Bohemian. Under the combined tutelage of Luca and Denis, however, he slowly discovers the power of independence. 

There’s something endearing about Antonio’s voyage of sexual and personal discovery. This is a young man, after all, who has been with the same man since high school. He knows that he likes to bake, but all of the vicissitudes of dating and hooking up have largely passed him by. Thanks to the influence of Denis and Luca, however, he soon finds that there’s a whole world of sexy pleasures to be had, and Rome is indeed full of handsome and hunky men who are more than happy to engage in a little nighttime dalliance with this handsome young man. Mascarpone dwells with loving pleasure on the bodies of the young men who dance into and out of the fame, ably capturing the simple sexy exuberance of being young, with the world at one’s point. 

As Antonio soon discovers, the world is a messy place, and it can often be difficult to find one’s place in it, particularly when one doesn’t know what one wants. Mascarpone wisely doesn’t make its main character into an uncomplicated and morally pure character. Indeed, there are times when Antonio can be a bit of an asshole, such as when he repeatedly blows off his lessons with one of Rome’s most respected pastry chefs or when he treats one of his hookups with the same casual disdain with which Lorenzo and (initially) Denis treated him. It’s all a part of life’s journey, and he’s far from perfect. 

In the latter part of the film it seems that Antonio might end up running away with Thomas, a photographer who invites him back to live in Milan. Ultimately, though, Antonio realizes that to do so would simply replicate the patterns that have already misshapen his life to this point, and the film ends with him walking through the streets of Rome, a bit sadder, perhaps, but also much wiser than he was when the film began. He might not yet know where he’s going to go, but he now has the self-assurance (and the baking skills) to go wherever he wants.

I have to admit that the me of a few years ago would have been very disappointed that Antonio didn’t end up with any of the men that he’s had dalliances with: not Luca (despite their obvious physical chemistry), not Thomas, not even poor doomed Denis. However, I actually think this is the part of the film I liked the best. It reminds us that sometimes romantic fulfillment isn’t the solution to all our problems. Sometimes we have to take a deep breath and really figure out what it is that we want in life before we commit to a new path. 

That said, there is quite a lot of romance in this film. For a while I thought that Antonio was going to end up with Lua–the chemistry between Commare and Saurino is so thick that you could cut it with a knife, and there are some indications that Luc might feel more for Antonio than he lets on–but in retrospect I’m glad they didn’t. If nothing else, the lack of romantic fulfillment leaves room for a sequel. 

Like any good romantic comedy, Mascarpone is filled with delightful side characters, the best of whom is undoubtedly Denis. He lives life to the fullest and on his own terms, and it’s clear that there are many things about him that he hasn’t shared with Antonio (or, it seems, with anyone). Though he ultimately dies off-screen–this is one of the aspects of the screenplay I didn’t particularly like, even if it was foreshadowed very early in the film–he’s still the type of character that you can’t help but wish had his own movie. Eduardo Valdarnini takes this role and absolutely runs away with it. 

Overall I really liked this film. I wasn’t at all sure what to expect but, as I said at the top, it really did remind me of the sorts of indie films some of us grew up with back in the dark ages of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Like those films, it takes a very serious subject–gay divorce, an unfortunate by-product of the increasing acceptance and prevalence of same-sex couples in places like Italy–and shows how even a shocking event like this doesn’t have to be the end of the world. There is always light on the other side, even if it’s sometimes difficult to see.