Renato De Maria’s 2005 drama, “Amatemi” [Eng. Title: Love Me] is a woman’s quest for love and a meaning in her life, after her husband of twenty years suddenly decides to separate.
Nina, an announcer at a supermarket returns home one evening to have a bombshell thrown at her by husband Claudio – he wants to separate because he had ceased to be in love with her for some time, and that he’s now in love with another woman. A desperate Nina implores him not to leave, to no avail. She finally come to terms with reality and decides to start afresh, giving herself a makeover, and clubbing with her friend Giulia. One night, she sees a stranger at a club and promptly follows him – they never utter a word, as they take a room at a hotel, have sex, and leave. She feels she could now finally lay to rest her past relationship. Neither of them even bothers to ask for each other’s name or telephone number, but after they go their separate ways, Nina begins to miss him, and frequents the bar in the hope of meeting him again. When he doesn’t turn up there, she takes on a string of lovers, deciding not to expect anything, and not allowing them to either. She finally meets up with the stranger from a bar, after watching him on TV.
Her philosophy can be summed up in her own words, “I don’t want to count how many people I’ve known, but whether I’ve loved each one of them enough, and they felt likewise. I do this without expecting anything, not their truth, their lies or betrayal. One thing is for sure, I never want to be alone again.” Whether we agree with Nina or not, the film is adequately made, with some solid performances by Isabella Ferrari as Nina and an under-used Pierfrancesco Favino as Claudio.
