Against Nature

"Contronatura" could be described a bit too simply as a romance between a rural woodsman and a suburban pharmacist's wife playing out the struggle between civilization and nature. True enough as far as it goes, but there are plot twists to make it more interesting than such a facile description suggests, and the director's background in making nature documentaries gives him a marvelously skilled hand in using the natural backgrounds and weather of coastal Tuscany.This story could have so easily fallen into cliche, but the cast, brilliantly picked, fill out their characters and grow credibly through the story. The setting also becomes alive as a character, not just the backdrop, but forests and rivers alive with fauna that catalyze the human drama.This would be a terrific date movie for people who enjoy thinking as much as they like romance. Heck, it's a terrific movie all around!