Warning: This review contains SPOILERS.

A couple of weeks ago I went to see a stage production of Looking for Alibrandi and decided to rewatch the film first, for a bit of a refresher. It was such a pleasure going down this trip of memory lane, one that I haven’t been on for at least a decade.

While I never studied the book for school, I am pretty sure that we did watch the movie. Looking for Alibrandi is the story of three generations of Alibrandi women and was one of the pivotal coming of age movies for my generation. It was the breakout film for Pia Miranda, who stars as Josie (short for Josephine) the 17-year-old whose eyes this film is presented through.

Unsurprisingly most of what has stuck with me from this film are key events that happen with Josie, as that is the character I most related to. She is smart and funny, which is what I aspired to and think I ended up with a very similar sarcastic sense of humour.

I remember very clearly John’s suicide and I think that this may have been the first film that exposed me to that topic. I still struggle to connect with why Josie rips apart what turns out to be his suicide note.

Oddly I had no memory of Kick Gurry being in this film! I remember both he and Pia Miranda being in Garage Days together but not sure why I had forgotten him in this film (sorry Kick!).

Back when this was first released, I was more a fan or at least related to the crush which Josie has on John, rather than the character of Jacob. I find that a bit weird now, as Jacob is a great character, with his own complexities. Watching it now, I really love his school captain speech.

Additionally, when I found myself rewatching the film this time around, I am now the same age as Josie’s mum; Christina (ironic, huh?). I found it really interesting that one of the quotes which really stood out this time around came from Christina. While having a disagreement with her mother and in response to Katia saying she is old and tired of fighting, Christina says:

“And I’m a young woman, I’m tired of being old.”

It’s not that I have a personal connection with that quote to my life, but it just gave me more of an appreciation of the character of Christina that I never really thought about when I was a teenager myself. The sacrifices she had to make, the difficult family life she has and continued strain on her relationship with her mother. She had to grow up very quickly without any support. Now she just wants her daughter to have a better life than she did and has to struggle with Josie having a relationship with her father after it being just the two of them for so long. It’s a lot to take.

I feel that I had a better appreciation that every character is doing it tough in some shape or manner. Just because from the outside someone’s life seems better than yours, you can’t tell what challenges they might be battling.

The film tackles many subjects from the final year of high school (which at the time, feels like the most important year of your life), multi-generational family relationships, the father-daughter relationship, tradition and heritage, and expectations. It also explores growing up with a different heritage through the Australian lens.

While being a moving and complex story, it’s also incredibly funny. A film that produces so many great lines. I especially love the nonna’s spy ring scene! It’s a fantastic cast which brings all these characters to life and the soundtrack that accompanies is a perfect reflection of who Josie is with a balance between traditional Italian and Australian modern music.

While I could go on and on, this isn’t a school essay, and we need to wrap things up.

I very much enjoyed revisiting this film. I found it to be a beautifully told story that many different nationalities will be able to relate to, not just Italians. For so many reasons, it continues to be a relevant story, which if you haven’t seen, you simply must!