That’s amore: stories (and feelings) of men and other animals

The clinic is one of those at the forefront in Italy, for professionalism and services offered, diagnostic equipment, and treatment methods. The city is the capital, Rome , where  domestic animals (sometimes not very domestic) of various species and breeds live. 

The topic is love. Just like the title says.

You know, in the word love  there is a bit of everything, but in what binds an animal to a human being there are two main characteristics: care and unconditional affection, both ingredients present in ” That’s amore, stories of men and other animals “, the RAI docureality dedicated to animals.

Four months of live shooting, 24 hours a day in the South Rome Veterinary Clinic , hours and hours of footage, common and exotic pets: tears, sighs of relief, diagnosis, treatment, operations. Many images, and many interviews with doctors and animal owners, to tell on the one hand what it means to do this job with dedication and compassion , focusing on the needs and quality of life of the animal, and on the other to explore the different aspects. of one of the oldest and most widespread bonds in the world : that between a pet and its owner. 

Docureality in a veterinary clinic: this is what happens

The protagonists are the animals , with their experience, the dynamics, the small pieces of road traveled together with the owners, the small gestures, the knowing looks, the rituals, the everyday life, the communication codes, their apparent silence: each of these different aspects from report to report, but all equally special.

The protagonists are veterinarians , filmed during their work (routine or emergency) in the days and nights spent in the clinic to operate or visit, or while they take charge of giving the news to “family”, the ethics of a so demanding and delicate work. 

Finally, the protagonists are human beings who, by choice, or by chance, discover sides of themselves that they did not suspect .

The interviews carve out a private space similar to a confessional, where everything is expressed, where love and anxiety, as well as relief, can be read on the faces, in the folds of the lips, or in the lowering of a glance to hide something. more than you want, or can, put into words. 

A truthful but protected context

Don’t expect happy, wagging kittens and dogs. Of course, there are those too, but That’s amore is a documentary in which accidents, operations, illnesses and decisions are true. However, no crudeness of the images is pushed to move the public : only the faithful story of what happens inside and outside a veterinary clinic.

The images and events reach the heart  and the heart speak directly and with authenticity. Without too many words, as few (if any) are needed to understand each other between animal and man.

More than a reality show: the stories

More than a reality show ,  more than a documentary . It is the testimony of many love stories: animals teach their owners something about themselves: the sense of responsibility, as in the case of the young Virginia and her pitbull Kahula , who fell from a balcony at a time when she was left alone; Floriana, who spent 14 years with her Kira , a relapsing tumor patient, who welcomes as good news the fact that she still has some time to spend with her, as much or as little. Then there is the joy of two puppies growing up, Luna, a female Labrador, and Dario, her owner confined to a wheelchair.whose ability to look after, and a naturalness in doing so, is unsurpassed.

We reflect, we feel anxiety, we share fears, the responsibility of sometimes heavy choices, we also learn something more about the animal world that surrounds us and that is part of our lives.  

We also smile in front of some apparently incredible stories: one day Lucarina arrives at the clinic, a 10-year-old reptile, brought by Anna who, by her admission, before Lucarina did not particularly love reptiles, and who had noticed how the his pet was not feeling well since a loss of the tail.

Guendo also arrives, a 7-year-old duck, who has the same attitudes as a dog or a cat with his mistress, Elisa : he follows her, responds to her commands, lets himself be pampered and caressed with evident satisfaction; finally Monki , the cat that Sonia has collected, already a tripod , in the street, reduced by a tumor to have only two legs, with which she still manages to run after a ball around the clinic, between shelves and trolleys, with the innate joy of being a cat chasing something that moves. 

In each episode , the love for and of a pet is made as it is, beautiful and deep, for when it is there, and for how long there has been, even if one of the two poles of the relationship may fail. : that’s love, and it’s forever anyway .