(Dir. Marco Filiberti. Italy, 2009. 106 mins).

This leisurely, uneven Italian melodrama has limited appeal but there are rewards to be had for those willing to persevere.

A trip to the opera introduces four of the central characters: intellectual Matteo, his timid wife Francesca and their far more freewheeling friends Diego and Shary who have a college-age son called “David.”

The two couples and Matteo and Francesca’s young daughter converge at a stunning beach-side villa – these are the kind of Euro cinema bourgeoisie who can vacation for the entire summer in an idyllic spot without any thought of doing a day’s work.

Unmarried childhood sweethearts Diego and Shary spar and bicker, but not very much happens until New York residing underwear model David turns up and sexually repressed Matteo’s sails start to fly at full mast. In fact not very much happens until well into the second half other than arguments and Matteo spying on David in the shower, on the beach, with his friends and pleasuring himself in bed.

The main problem here is that by the film’s climax (in which writer/director Marco Filiberti heavily references Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde at the expense of plausibility) the character of Matteo is so dislikeable (pervert voyeur; aggressive husband; arrogant bore) that you really think he deserves what he gets. Whether this was Filiberti’s intention I don’t know, but the other characters start to grate as well. And when Matteo and David finally get it on there’s certainly no suggestion of anything other than lust from the older man and sexual awakening from his younger muse.

There is some good stuff here: as a character study about relationships the film works best and a scene where David emerges from the dark sea like some male siren is beautifully done, but then the film will suddenly lurch into unnecessary murder mystery territory.

David’s Birthday doesn’t have massive gay interest beyond the sculpted form of newcomer Thyago Alves as David, which the camera lovingly lingers on, and a few sexy moments, but it will find an appreciative audience in fans of surface diving European melodrama.

David’s Birthday is available now on DVD.