Ciro De Caro’s Taxi Monamour is a touching story about friendship and how it can be found in unlikely places.
Director: Ciro De Caro
Genre: Drama
Run Time: 113′
Venice World Premiere: September 3, 2024
Italian Release Date: September 4, 2024 in cinemas
U.S. Release Date: TBA
U.K. Release Date: TBA
What would you do while you’re waiting for a bus that never comes? The protagonists of Taxi Monamour, who find themselves in that exact situation, start talking to each other, in what marks the beginning of a friendship that we see develop throughout the film. Ciro De Cairo’s movie promises to explore the lives of two women and the tale of their unlikely friendship in what is a very unique situation for both of them. If you have ever felt alone with your struggles, Taxi Monamour will speak to you.
The film focuses on two characters who could not be more different: Anna (Rosa Palasciano) and Nadiya (Yeva Sai). Anna is working as a waiter and struggles with an illness she is facing all on her own. Her family, on the other hand, has no idea that any of this is happening and often makes her feel alone during family events and gatherings because of her different upbringing compared to her brothers. Nadiya has recently escaped from Ukraine and now lives in Italy with her aunt and uncle. She is unwilling to find a better job than her current one, despite her aunt’s insistence, because she is determined to return to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Anna and Nadiya have admittedly very little in common at the beginning of Taxi Monamour. When they first meet, their friendship seems a little off; after all, the two barely know each other. And yet, as the film continues and their respective stories develop further, Anna and Nadiya eventually learn more and more about one another and develop an unlikely friendship. Despite their differences, they seem to be united by one thing many people in the audience will probably relate to: loneliness. Neither of them feels understood by their families for one reason or another, they don’t like their respective jobs, and they feel alone in dealing with the significant struggles in their lives.
This is why their friendship ultimately feels very honest and authentic once we actually see it develop and flourish, despite these improbable circumstances. Both Anna and Nadiya are also very fascinating characters on their own, with their own plots and life events that exist outside of the friendship that forms between them. In Taxi Monamour, De Cairo is able to use his characters to speak to real-life issues and stories that the audience will be able to relate to and empathise with. This is particularly evident with Nadiya’s character, whose narrative reflects on the Ukrainian war, which caused a lot of Ukrainians to leave their country, many of whom actually fled to Italy.
Anna’s plot is equally fascinating and authentic. This is especially true when we see her with her imperfect but still loving family. Taxi Monamour is at its best when it portrays the family dynamics between them with both poignant humour and painful moments when they retrace their childhood memories. At the same time, however, I wish Anna’s struggles would have been explored a little more clearly outside of her family as well but, in this case, the film exhibits a tendency to underexplain and leave the audience guessing or imagining answers for themselves.
The structure of the film is also a little odd at first, as the narrative keeps switching from Anna to Nadiya and vice versa for no apparent reason until the two actually connect more. Eventually, this ends up paying off, as their respective stories become more and more intertwined. I also wish the characters’ backgrounds were explored more: as it is, we don’t know much about Nadiya’s life back in Ukraine or Anna’s childhood and upbringing that her siblings keep referring to. If their backstories had been more sketched out, it would have given the characters in Taxi Monamour more depth and significance.
Overall, Taxi Monamour is a beautiful film that analyses the internal struggles and personal growth of the two protagonists with a touching and sensitive feel to it. The characters may have their own personal struggles that are very unique to their respective situations, but ultimately a lot of people in the audience are going to be able to relate to the overall feeling of loneliness that both protagonists experience and struggle with. And ultimately if Anna and Nadiya were able to find a genuine connection in a sad and unjust world, then maybe those of us in the audience who relate to them can too in their own way.
Taxi Monamour had its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 3, 2024. Read our list of films to watch at the 2024 Venice Film Festival!
