Summary
Made in Malta has a well-desired concept, but its failings come from the over-indulgence of dialogue that suffocates the story.
Made in Malta is a film about the pitfalls of young love. By the time you hit your 30s, I think we can all assume we’ve had that one spiralling connection with someone that occasionally creeps in your mind while sloppily eating each mac and cheese for the fourth night running in your lonely, but well-organised home. It’s the kind of young love that is as addictive as cocaine. An all-consuming drug that turns makes you both crazy, mostly because your brain has not fully formed yet, and it’s creating unruly chemistry imbalances that you cannot rationalise.
Imagine if that young love that desperately fell apart because you both wanted different things returns five years later. Imagine being given that perspective, that opportunity for an extended period of time and space, and then met up again to discuss the past with a more mature, chemically balanced mind.
Made in Malta follows a character that has those experiences; Vincent (Greg Audino) is a filmmaker whose entire personal structure was torn apart by Annalisa (Ariadna Cabrol). Five years later, when his film career was finally on the brink of lighting, Annalisa finds him at his premiere in Malta and is eager to reconnect at coffee shops and locations they used to enjoy.
If you enjoy a human case study, then Made in Malta articulates the scenario to an extreme point. Both characters reminisce, laugh, enjoy long conversations on different philosophical outcomes, but also briefly argue on their past and what a new future would look like. Made in Malta wants to be the cornerstone story of what many souls would only dream of having – that second opportunity.
An issue that is glaringly obvious from the start in Made in Malta, is that the director Julian Galea seemed so desperate to fill screen time, that he either filled it with montages of the in-love couple wandering the streets of Malta, with lovely music to accompany it, or he filled any remaining space with dialogue. Made in Malta deserved patience. A characters’ thoughts or feelings do not have to be relayed by conversation only; there can be silences that portray a character’s body language or expression.
Instead, we are delivered a lot of dialogue; some interesting but some uninspiring and makes no difference to the characters. Luckily, the leading performers embraced their roles and convincingly sold that they were old flames, rekindling for the first time in the Malta sunshine. The B-movie type production can be forgiven because there are some well-deserved shots and well-used camera angles that creep into some scenes, but the indulgence in the script is too apparent to ignore.
Made in Malta will have you thinking about your ex, or maybe your ex-ex, but then it’s a few miles off from being anything compelling.
