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Dear Diary

Play trailer Poster for Dear Diary 1994 1h 40m Biography Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 18 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Filmmaker Nanni Moretti (Nanni Moretti) goes on three disparate journeys. First, he rides through Rome on a scooter, musing on cinema, and has a chance encounter with actress Jennifer Beals (Jennifer Beals). Next, he and his friend, Gerardo (Renato Carpentieri), tour a number of islands searching for a peaceful place to write a screenplay. And finally, Moretti, hampered by a nagging skin rash, goes from doctor to doctor looking for the right diagnosis, which may or may not turn out to be severe.
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Dear Diary

Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader 06/06/2022
3/4
What ties all this material together is the force and humor of Moretti's eclectic personality. Go to Full Review
Diego Semerene Slant Magazine 05/12/2020
3.5/4
In the film, the matter of cinema is the process of creativity, arduous and unrealized, as it ebbs and flows. Go to Full Review
Richard Brody The New Yorker 05/12/2020
This light-toned but thematically substantial autofiction is organized like a sequence of diary entries brought to life with Moretti's wryly confessional voice-overs. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy 09/12/2020
2.5/4
The two first segments house some charming interludes amidst the meandering framework but the final segment largely falls flat despite being the most weighty section. Go to Full Review
Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid 09/12/2020
3.5/4
Generally strikes a cross between deadpan and absurd; most of it is stuff that would likely never happen, but Moretti captures it all with straight-faced seriousness. Go to Full Review
David Bax Battleship Pretension 05/31/2020
Caro diario is as much a guided tour of Italy as it is of a man's minor midlife crisis. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Joy B. @9mr_0 Dec 25 تحفة فنية لا يوجد قصة درامية اقرب لما يكون يوميات شخص مع بعض الكوميديا الساخرة اخراج و تصوير جميل جدا مع موسيقى رائعه See more Alejandro E @Alex970 Dec 19 What gives this Italian comedy its flavour is its biographical style, which almost mirrors real life. For those looking for options with minimal pretension See more William L 07/16/2021 A solid enough comedy about characters exploring relatively serious aspects of life, such as the changing nature of the world around them and the pursuit of personal expression, and finding in these pursuits a humor that runs through it despite their best intentions. I wouldn't call it the most profound or original film of its kind, as the jokes are pretty straightforward and grounded - a Joyce scholar that gradually becomes obsessed with soap operas, ultimately getting his friend to ask American tourists that have seen newer episodes what happens, claiming that he is ashamed but shouting out his questions from the top of a mountain, for one - but that doesn't mean they aren't funny or well-integrated in the story. The exception is the third act, which takes a more serious tone (counting on some form of connection to Moretti's character that isn't really established very clearly) that doesn't operate as cleanly, and decides to use its time as a criticism of the inability of several doctors to correctly diagnose his cancer; weird choice. Still, Caro Diario is briskly paced, often carries a solid sense of deadpan, and gives a pleasant look at Italy from the perspective of a lifelong resident, so you can't call it a waste of time. (3/5) See more Emilio T @MilloTPue 09/09/2019 After half and hour, one feels that the movie would be more pleasant if you felt a partner in the philosophy of Moretti (however, he does not explain enough to understand it, and makes more difficult talking about geographical and cultural localisms; probably, it is a movie for already initiated), or if the sense of humour was not so subtle and ironic, in a way it becomes not funny at all. Sometimes it looks exhibicionism pre-YouTube. Probably, it looks more narcisistic because you don't fell Moretti is half as sharp as he believes he is. You can watch it (sometimes, the music and the silence are just peaceful), but not enjoy enough to continue. If I continue watching, there is risk to give just 2 stars. See more 06/13/2019 This film never fails to make me smile. It moves between being sweet and hilarious. The locations are so evocative, and the juxtaposing cultural references make me laugh out loud: "Flashdance" and The Bold and the Beautiful. See more S R @ScottR 02/24/2018 1001 movies to see before you die. Another lost flixster rating. I remember this being tedious and artsy. It was on Tubi. See more Read all reviews
Dear Diary

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Movie Info

Synopsis Filmmaker Nanni Moretti (Nanni Moretti) goes on three disparate journeys. First, he rides through Rome on a scooter, musing on cinema, and has a chance encounter with actress Jennifer Beals (Jennifer Beals). Next, he and his friend, Gerardo (Renato Carpentieri), tour a number of islands searching for a peaceful place to write a screenplay. And finally, Moretti, hampered by a nagging skin rash, goes from doctor to doctor looking for the right diagnosis, which may or may not turn out to be severe.
Director
Nanni Moretti
Producer
Nella Banfi, Angelo Barbagallo, Nanni Moretti
Screenwriter
Nanni Moretti
Distributor
Fine Line Features
Production Co
Le Studio Canal +, Banfilm, La Sept Cinema, Sacher Film, RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana
Genre
Biography, Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 30, 1994, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$445.2K
Runtime
1h 40m
Sound Mix
Dolby, Stereo
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