Nine Good Teeth (2003)
Review by Thespia
Film:
DVD:

Directed by Alex Halpern Starring Mary Mirabito Livornese Cavaliere, Maria Halpern, Frank Pagano, Jeanette Pagano, Gladys Zodda

Features:

• Running audio commentary with director Halpern, composer Teese Gohl, editor Angelo Carrao, and Halpern's mother, Maria
  
• Deleted scenes
  
• Official "Nanaisms"
  
• Theatrical trailer
  
• Cast and crew bios
  

Released by: New Video/Docurama.
Rating: NR
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Rent it.

When Mary Mirabito Livornese Cavaliere was young, a gypsy told her she would live to be ninety-six. Therefore, when his grandmother reached the prophesied age, Alex Halpern decided to break out his camera and began to record not only Mary's life history, but consequently that of the whole family. The result was Nine Good Teeth. Mary, or "Nana" as she is affectionately called, is truly charming--the quintessence of the outspoken Italian matriarch who is holding fast to not only her memories and mental agility but also every one of her nine original teeth. She goes through all the emotions of our lives as she recounts her own, from the death of a father to regretting never becoming a singer to finding true love.

The other interviewees are quite interesting as well...especially when they seem to forget the camera is rolling and become wrapped up in familial quarrels as they walk through the past together. Halpern has a wonderful way of getting his relatives to reveal both the beautiful and not-so-beautiful moments of their lives through their interviews (I doubt I could do the same if my family held similar secrets). That's pretty much the extent of the film itself, showing the tenacity and love of life that can exist in one human being, albeit one that got to see the entirety of the 20th Century from start to finish.

The extras are fairly interesting but could be better. I'm glad the DVD includes a commentary, but the commentary itself has some bad sound issues, and on top of that the composer's comments seem forced and superfluous. Instead, I would rather have heard from some more of the family members or someone else with more insight to offer. The trailer, I believe, tried to make the film look like some kind of action movie and reflected none of the warmth that shows through so wonderfully in the film itself. Most of the deleted scenes were pretty average, although one—involving an automobile--was hilarious.

The "Nanaisms" were cute, being just text-on-screen quotations, but they were pretty much an exact repeat of one of the deleted scenes. I liked the biographies (especially the tidbits of information such as how Mary is exactly one hundred years older than one of her grandchildren) and enjoyed reading the update on how Mary herself is doing.

While this doesn't sound like the first docu you might pick out to watch, it's definitely worth checking out. Rent it if you can.