There are many strong dramas in this year's Italian Film Festival (see selected reviews below), some comedies and two significant documentaries, Ennio – The Maestro, a comprehensive look at (and listen to) the scores of Ennio Morricone (The Mission and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, among others) and Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, the story of Italian designer, Salvatore Ferragamo, in Hollywood.
NOSTALGIA. Italy, 2022, starring Pierfrancesco Favino, Francesco Di Leva, Tommaso Ragno, Aurora Quattrocchi, Sofia Essaidi, Nello Mascia. Directed by Mario Martone. 116 minutes.
Nostalgia is a serious portrait, not without some light touches, of a man who has been away from where he grew up – Naples – for 40 years. As with so many men and women who roam, there is still somewhere they call home. And it creates a longing, perhaps reviving true and false memories, and nostalgia.
Felice (Favino) returns to his hometown of Rione Sanita in Naples from Cairo to see his ageing mother. But, there is a deeper motivation from the past – and there are many memory flashbacks throughout the film, indicated by a change of screen format – his growing up, friendship with Oreste, whose actions led to a crisis, aged 15, and his being hurried out of the country by his uncle, returning only now.
There are some moving sequences as Felice rediscovers his mother. But, at her funeral (and there have been some visual indications that he has embraced Islam with his wife in Cairo), he observes, detached, but he appreciates the words of the local parish priest, Don Luigi (Di Leva). Felice had previously noticed him celebrating Mass with a crowd outside the cathedral, defying authorities and corruption, defying the widespread influence of the Camorra.
Here is an earnest priest, close to his parishioners, supporting young people (both in a gym and in creating an orchestra), welcomed into homes, but defying the local gangster culture and crime. He is sympathetic to Felice, acts almost as confessor and therapist.
And he warns Felice about his friend, Oreste, his leadership of local thugs and crime. Nevertheless, Felice wants to meet Oreste, to revisit the past, to understand it, to bond again with his one-time close friend.
There are two possible endings for a film about contemporary Naples and its crime problems – hope that the spirit of Don Luigi offers some optimism or regrets that the violence and vengeance of Oreste will prevail.
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ARIAFERMA/ THE INNER CAGE, Italy, 2021. Starring Toni Servillo, Silvio Orlando, Fabrizio Ferracane, Salvatore Striano, Roberto De Francesco, Pietro Giuliano, Nicolá Sechi. Directed by Leonardo di Costanzo. 117 minutes.
This unusual prison film focuses not on a large prison population but rather on a remnant in an old decaying building waiting transfer.
The setting is Sardinia with graphic black and white/grey vistas of the vast mountains and valleys. But, the focus is on the prison, a large facility now decaying, overviews, abandoned corridors, exercise yard, overgrown gardens, and the central section, a Rotunda where 12 prisoners, a remnant, with six guards, are awaiting transfer.
The audience is introduced to the guards as they go duck hunting – the friendship, the camp, the fire – and then returning to find that they are not being transferred but have to remain with the last prisoners. The senior guard, Gaetano, played by one of the pillars of Italian cinema Toni Servillo, giving yet another superior performance, is in charge. He is a man of integrity. He is a man of the letter of the law and strict interpretation. In charge, his men are loyal to him, obedient, although a close friend is particularly critical, spurning the prisoners.
We also see the range of prisoners – an old man with dementia, a paedophile, a bigot against Muslims and Gypsies, a range of ages, a black prisoner, Muslim prisoner, and the youngest, from foster homes, arrested for brutally beating an old man while stealing his wallet. The 12 men adapt to the change of situation although ready to revolt, especially refusing to eat the meals brought in from outside caterers. They have exercise time in the yard. Some are friendly. The prisoner who is obviously superior to the others is Lagioia, played by another veteran of Italian cinema, Silvio Orlando.
Gaetano has many elements of humanity but abides by regulations. However, given the strange situation of the men altogether (guards and prisoners) in prison, he makes some concessions, especially with permitting Lagioia to act as cook. He is able to get the prisoners through their remaining days, especially during a storm and power failure where he allows the men to come out of their cells for the meal, bring all the cell tables together, sit together enjoying a meal, the joy of inviting the guards to sit and share the meal with them. It highlights the possibilities with some common humanity, not denying justice, but discovering some kind of compassion even though Gaetano firmly tells Lagioia that they have nothing in common.
The film gives the opportunity to look at prison systems, overcrowding, treatment of prisoners, but also highlights issues of responsibility, humanity, justice, difficult decision-making.
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L’OMBRA DEL GIORNO/SHADOW OF THE DAY, Italy, 2022. Starring Riccardo Scamarcio, Benedetta Porcaroli, Valeria Bilelllo. Directed by Giuseppe Piccioni. 125 minutes.
A serious film about Italy in the 19 30s, the experience of fascism, presented on a smaller scale, in the town of Ascoli Piceno. While the focus is narrow, the experiences dramatised are a microcosm of what was happening in Italy in the Fascist era, under Mussolini – state efficiencies, oppression, people spying on each other and denouncing each other, eventual persecutions and arrests, persecution of Jewish people.
The focus of the film is a wounded World War I veteran Luciano, Riccardo Scamarcio who is now veteran of so many Italian films as well as international performances. He is disillusioned after the war because the population denounced the veterans rather than acclaiming them. And he has the fascist beliefs, and is in contact with various friends who have made their way in the fascist bureaucracy.
Much of the film shows the ordinary life of the town. The drama is heightened when a young, rather mysterious woman, Anna, ask for a job. Luciano employs her and she is very successful, working with the staff, joking with the anti-Fascist cook who sells material on the black market, friendly even to Fascists and helping Luciano manage the restaurant. There is an attraction between Luciano and Anna.
As the 1930s progress, the tension becomes more serious with the revelation about Anna and the arrival of her French husband, a writer. Luciano has to make decisions concerning Anna, whether to hide the husband or denounce him.
Anna is played by the striking Benedetta Porcaroli (who appeared, as did Scamarcio, in The Catholic School).
There is political tension, oppression, investigations, as well as the emotional repercussions, with Luciano finally having to make some decisions about himself and what he will do in the future.
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POWER OF ROME, Italy, 2022. Eduardo Leo. Directed by Giovanni Troilo. 83 minutes
The Power of Rome has been well known and acclaimed for more than 2500 years. The power has been political. The power has been ecclesiastical.
Here is an 80-minute opportunity for the audience to reflect on this history, this power, the exercise of power and its consequences, some of the key personalities involved, some of the significant buildings still standing in the city.
Response to this film will depend on audience knowledge about Rome and its history, without having visited the city. For those who have visited or live there, it is an opportunity for reflection and rumination, wondering why this person, this event, this building was highlighted rather than others.
This invitation to reflect comes from the style of the film, not a straightforward documentary. Rather, it is a variation on the docudrama. And the framework, and constant reference, is to making movies about Rome – and this particular case, an opening on the Ides of March with the conspirators and Brutus about to stab Caesar and the actor objecting, halting the scene to the director’s frustration, speculating on what would have happened had Caesar not been killed. Would there have been a Roman Empire? And the role of Augustus?
The actor, Eduardo Leo, takes time off to wander around the city, to observe, to think. And, as he does so, the filmmakers provide some historical re-creations.
The film spends a lot of time at the Colosseum, giving its history, contemporary guides explaining the history to tourists, the power of bread and circuses for the masses, and the dedication of the stadium by Titus. There is also some time spent at the Pantheon and its place in Roman history.
The role of Christianity, the survival of Christians during several centuries of persecution, until the coming of Constantine is discussed. There is St Peter’s, looking larger, grander than it often does, and the inclusion of some clips of the filming of workers on the dome.
Throughout there are references to the movies – Ben Hur, the making of Quo Vadis, Christopher Plummer in The Fall of the Roman Empire, a visit behind the scenes at Cinecitta, when the actor travels around Rome on a motorcycle with the production assistant, references to Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
No real conclusions (except that the actor goes back and allows Caesar to be stabbed), just verbal and visual stimuli to reflect on Rome and its past power – with no compliments for contemporary Rome. During the final credits, on the left side of the screen, there is a continual running list of significant dates.
Italian Film Festival – Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Byron Bay
Until 16 October