All teenagers have to deal with problems both at home and at school. In ‘Looking for Alibrandi’, Josie, the main character, deals with many problems typical to all teenagers; such as problems include identity family tradition, death and social acceptance. The other teenager characters in the movie, Jacob Coote, John Barton and Carly Bishop, also encounter a variety of teenager problems such as class differences, self-esteem and parental expectations. During the movie, Josie had some difficulties in her family life. Josie’s sense of identity was turned upside down when she discovers that her Nonna have an affair with Marcus Sanford and that he was actually Christina’s father at first Josie is very angry and she rushes to confront Nonna, Claiming, ” You ” re a liar! Didn’t your Australian friend teach you that in English! That’s why Nonna hated Mama so much.” But then she realises the incredible sacrifices both Nonna and her mother made for their daughters this leads to Josie having a greater understanding and respect for “two of the strongest women (she ” ll) ever know”, and thus feeling of belonging. Josie has problems at school one of them is being accepted who she is and her culture mother, making Josie incredibly furious.
When Josie and Christina find out that Katia is welcoming Michael Andretti, Josie’s father into her house, the two become apprehensive about visiting her. However, I think that Josie comes to learn that Katia is too old to adopt new habits and appreciates her grandmother for who she is. Christina Alibrandi is Josie’s mother. She is a relatively young mother who had Josie at a young age and brought her p all on her own. Christina teaches Josie a lot about herself and her heritage.
The relationship between Christina and Josie leads toward Josie’s freedom and away from the problems which she brings upon herself. Christina has such strength, more than she is given credit for. However, Christina resents her mother for shunning her away when she gave birth to Josie, but at the same time is grateful to have her mother back in her life. Josie comes to realize that the perception of her mother as a victim is not shared by Christina. Christina does not see any wrong in the way she has lead her life. “Looking for Alibrandi” centralizes around the lives of these three women, Josephine Alibrandi, Katia Alibrandi and Christina Alibrandi.