Netflix's From Scratch is one of the most poignant and heartbreaking series I've ever seen. I don't typically go for romance entertainment, as I generally prefer to be surprised with a solid relationship in the midst of a larger, more unassuming story - like that of Midge and Lenny Bruce amid The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's overarching female comic success story, for example. But From Scratch's clearly romance-driven story struck me as intriguing because it was specific and intricate, and because the drama was sold by all-around dedicated performances.
From Scratch is a romantic drama miniseries based on the memoir of the same name by series creator Tembi Locke. The story sees Amy (Zoe Saldaña), an American art student residing in Italy, fall in love with Sicilian chef Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea). Their relationship, blooming with affection and Italian cuisine, is soon met with hardship when their vastly different cultures begin to collide, and Lino begins to experience health issues. Amy and Lino spend the series struggling to connect with difficult family members, grappling with Lino's health, and attempting to start a family of their own in the process. Zoe Saldaña gives her all as the strong-willed Amy; Eugenio Mastrandrea gives a deeply emotional performance as Lino; and the family members surrounding them are excellently portrayed as funny, frustrating, and friends when you need them.
'From Scratch' Resonated With Me More Than I Expected It Would Close
My mother enjoyed watching cooking shows when I was growing up. Having been raised as an only child by a single mother then, it was just me and her. As a kid, a foundational piece of her identity to me was (and still is) her affinity for food-related shows and documentaries. So when I stumbled upon the preview for From Scratch whilst surfing streaming platforms for something new to watch, the food-centric story and true-story element subconsciously roped me in. I was away at college and thought I could share it with my mom once I'd finished it. What I wasn't expecting to hit close to home, however, was Lino's development of cancer, as my mother had just experienced a cancer removal herself. The series became more relatable than I thought it would be; more relatable than I wanted it to be.
Amy and Lino are both artists, and their relationship thrives on their emotionally-based personalities. Being an artist myself, the series speaks volumes to the lifestyle expectations that cycle through my head on a regular basis, and to the kind of outlook that comes from making art (and, by extension, emotion) a priority. Lino is an especially emotional character, having lived in Florence, Italy, a city teeming with life that knows nothing but beauty. Whether it was having Amy's family reject his cooking, or not being able to find his "center" in Los Angeles, I built up the utmost empathy for Lino whenever he encountered a conflict in the story. He is a character that's so full of heart, and I understand the pain of having a profound love for anything go unmatched, so I was quickly inclined to want to protect him when watching the series.
Apart from drawing out a new link between myself and my mother and tapping into my identity as an artist, From Scratch represents the ever-present struggle for interracial and cross-cultural relationships. As someone who identifies as a Black female, with a tendency toward cultures different from my own, I already knew that both individuals can have the best intentions of understanding and sharing in each other's culture. And those types of positive and negative cultural collisions are gorgeously represented throughout From Scratch - Amy's family felt particularly familiar to me. But From Scratch showed me just how much dealing with difficult (and ultimately prejudiced) family members, on top of universal health matters, makes these relationships such a fight, and, consequently, what makes them so valuable when they persevere.
Language Is Used as a Brilliant Motif in 'From Scratch'
The various language barriers and subversions in From Scratch remain one of the most memorable aspects of the story. A large portion of the series is spoken in Italian, and while it becomes a commonplace practice between Amy and Lino, there are other, more nuanced languages that are indirectly used throughout the series. Characters in the story often send silent messages and perceive gestures just as loudly as the spoken word.
Lino's mother nonverbally stood up to her husband when he didn't allow his family to see Lino while he was back home. Lino's father is a proud Sicilian man with traditional values, and this caused him to behave harshly toward his family. When Lino and Amy had their wedding in Florence, Lino's father refused to bring his wife and daughter from Sicily to the wedding. So Lino's mother, traditionally responsible for providing dinner for her husband, passive-aggressively gave him a full plate of pasta with what looked like a teaspoon of sauce, while she silently sat at the table and ate her own completely prepared plate of pasta. When he angrily asked where the sauce was, she bitterly told him they had run out. Lino's mother figured the best way to communicate to her husband what he was doing to their family must not require words.
Amy felt behind in developing her own language with her daughter. When Amy and Lino adopted a young girl, Amy began to see that she was spending a bit more time with Lino as she grew up, and that he was even starting to teach her Sicilian. Even though she was well-versed in Italian vocabulary as a student and as a partner to a native Sicilian, it left Amy feeling disconnected from her daughter. Her comparative absence meant she was missing out on crucial interaction, and she expressed her worry that Lino and their daughter would be well on their way to forming a whole secret language in no time.
Amy confronted Lino's traditional Sicilian father and advocated for his son in his own tongue. It was a rewarding turning point for her (just as much as it was cathartic for me) because her love for Lino overrode her desire to appease Lino's father, who disapproved of his son's life choices so much as to say that he had no son. After years of dancing around his pride, she finally connected with Lino's father by speaking two common languages: the language of Italian, and the language of the love she knew they both held for Lino.
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Amy and Lino's Unique Relationship in 'From Scratch' Is More Believable Than Most, and That's What Helped Me Grieve
From Scratch's Amy and Lino have very real individual wants and plausible communication hitches that sell their relationship as one worth rooting for. Their misunderstandings tell me how much they truly wish to remain close without compromising their own sense of self. Like how telling different versions of the same bedtime story to their daughter became a tipping point for Amy's sense of connection. Or how, earlier in their relationship, Amy brought her parents to the restaurant that Lino cooked at, but since they had been growing so close with each other, Lino expressed to her his heartfelt disappointment that it wasn't a ploy to introduce him to her parents.
Amy and Lino's individual yearnings got more and more specific with every obstacle they had overcome, and the more their issues piled on, the more I felt for Amy. Just like her, I wanted to find the solution, and put an end to the misfortune that had upset their short-lived season of pure romance. So many people vouch for them and pitch in to help their happiness at various points in their relationship. Amy's sister is a steadfast support system in and of herself, and even a confessional priest personally reunited Lino's family in Sicily. At the end of the day, Amy and Lino just wanted to do right by each other, and having all of their best attempts at making each other happy turn out the way they did was truly heartbreaking. Even before the tragic loss, Lino's battle for his health wore so heavily on the two that I personally felt sorry that I couldn't do anything to change the trajectory of their story myself.
As much as I tend to knock romantic comedy/drama relationships, Amy and Lino earned my respect, and it hurt me to see their beautifully strong relationship suffer. Lino was blameless across a wide spectrum, and what happened to him felt terribly unfair. Knowing the value of who and what was lost helped me to grieve with Amy, and processing the events along with her helped me to appreciate what they did get to experience. The story involved me in both their individual and united highs, and in all their major and minor hardships, so I could carry a strong sense of empathy for both characters through their story of love won and love lost.
From Scratch is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.
From Scratch RomanceDrama Release Date October 21, 2022 Creator Attica Locke, Tembi Locke Cast Zoe Saldana , Eugenio Mastrandrea
WATCH ON NETFLIX