Made In Malta
3 stars
Director: Julian Galea
Starring: Greg Audino, Ariadna Cabrol, Nicolò Tagliabue
Duration: 80 mins

Made in Malta is the second feature film by Maltese-Australian writer/director/producer/cinematographer/editor and actor Julian Galea following 2017’s Love to Paradise. It features the story of a complicated relationship between two individuals set against the backdrop of the Maltese islands.

In Made in Malta Greg Audino and Ariadna Cabrol star as American film-maker Vincent and his Spanish ex-girlfriend Annalisa, who five years after their acrimonious break-up, unexpectedly meet again in Malta, at the European premier of his first feature. Over the course of an afternoon, they relive the causes of their separation while cautiously rekindling their feelings for one another.

As with Love to Paradise, Made in Malta’s two protagonists share an easygoing and honest chemistry. Audino and Cabrol click instantly and effortlessly project the dynamics of a couple who argued ferociously the last time they met.  They go from initial discomfort to awkward politeness until the ice is broken before they slip back in to the comfortable familiarity they were once used to.

If Galea’s script errs on the utterly predictable side – no prizes for guessing what the whole thing is leading up to, and the dialogue does fall into cliché at times – in his leading couple, he has two people who audiences will be happy to spend some time with. Audino – who at points reminded me of a young Marlon Brando in looks – capturing the clashing emotions of a man having to relive his love life at the most important juncture in his career; while Cabrol is deliciously feisty as she prods and pokes at him, delivering some uncomfortable home truths as she goes along.

Galea’s screenplay may be bordering on the simplistic and his execution of it undemanding; yet he simply surpasses himself in capturing the Maltese islands in all their potential splendour. And I am unashamed to admit it is his depiction of Malta that invoked in me the most emotion. 

“I’ve always grown up hearing from my father, who is from Mosta, and my mother, who is from St Julian’s, that Malta was the most beautiful place in the world,” Galea says. “I had no idea how right they were until I came here for the first time with my father many years ago. It made me appreciate Malta so much more and I’m very grateful”.

We should be grateful to Galea for showing the Maltese islands at their best. Whether it is a scene depicting Vincent and Annalisa taking a casual stroll along the St Julian’s and Sliema seafront or a ferry trip to Gozo, where they drive down some lovely green country lanes, and inexplicably walk through Valletta admiring its magnificent buildings, before ending up back at Dwejra, Malta and Gozo just look absolutely stunning.

It is a picture-perfect, idyllic, almost parallel universe version of Malta. Whether inadvertently or not, Made in Malta reminds us what a gem we have before we lose it all to the rampant construction, filth, and pollution that is crushing us.

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