Product Review

THE FLAVOR OF CORN

(Italy, 1994) Director: Gianni Da Campo. Cast: Lorenzo Lena and Marco Mestriner. Color. Italian with English subtitles. Running time: 95 minutes. Unrated.

Lorenzo, a handsome first-year school teacher in an isolated Italian village, falls under the spell of his most beguiling pupil, a dark-haired, starry-eyed 12-year-old named Duilio. As Lorenzo's relationship with his heartless girlfriend deteriorates, he finds himself walking the fields with his loving student. When their idyllic friendship is questioned by Duilio's suspicious stepmother, Lorenzo is brought to a crisis of conscience. THE FLAVOR OF CORN is a bittersweet ode to male friendship and the confusion of first love.