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Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio DeSica - 1948)
A simple, but devastatingly effective tale of desperation, loss and injustice. Antonio Ricci stars as Lamberto Maggiorani - a man deep in the throes of poverty, and unable to feed his family. He's offered a job that requires a bicycle so he pawns everything he has and buys one and heads off to his new job. Unfortunately his bicycle is almost immediately stolen and the rest of the film chronicles his desperate attempts to track down who stole it and retrieve it from him, so that he can keep his job, and regain his self-respect . This is the pinnacle of the Italian neo-realist movement, featuring authentic location shooting, wonderfully naturalistic performances - especially from young Enzo Staiola as Ricci's son - and a simple story which is told with such compassion, understanding and humanity that it would take a heart-hearted individual indeed to remain unmoved by the final scene. They don't make them like this anymore. |
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Gomorra (Matteo Garrone - 2008)
This gritty film swept the awards circuits on release and was a hot contender for the 2008 Best Foreign Film Oscar. It details, graphically and disturbingly, the clan warfare that exists between the various mob factions in an Italian slum. We follow drug and money runners - most of whom are young children, small time arms dealers and petty criminals along with supposedly respectable tradespeople and businessmen overworked, turning against their colleagues and families, poisoning the environment and generally taking a very short-sighted view of the world through circumstances beyond their control. The events are portrayed with a deal of authenticity and so make for a pretty depressing viewing experience. It's an accomplished and certainly very effective piece of filmmaking mind you, don't get me wrong - nice camerawork, good performances from a largely non-professional cast, and is brilliantly effective at conveying an atmosphere of all-pervading tension, stress and fear surrounding the characters and their tightrope-walk through life.
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Il Divo (Paolo Sorrentino - 2008)
This is one of those films where if you blink you'll miss some important information - facts pertinent to the story fly by here at a rate of notts and it's quite taxing just trying to keep who's who and how they fit into the events straight in your mind as you watch. Tony Servillo gives a weirdly hypnotic performance in this whizz-bang look at the life and alleged crimes of Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti - elected to to Parliament seven times since its inception in 1946. This movie struck me as a kind of cross between Oliver Stone's JFK, with its political intrigue and information overload, Scorsese's Casino, with its restless camera, punchy zooms and swish cinematography and Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs with its arrogant swagger. I found all the technical flashiness a bit over the top at first, but it settles down as it progresses and in the end you're left with a very confident and accomplished film that can certainly be enjoyed more than once. In fact I would say watching it a second time is pretty much essential if you're to properly absorb and collate all the information crammed into the two hour running time. I'll certainly be happy to revisit this because aside from catching up on stuff I may have missed I look forward to immersing myself once again in the beautifully photographed architecture of the government buildings full of oily politicians with their sharp suits, scrabbling over each other in their quest for power. Delicious. |
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La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini - 1960)
This is one of those films you hear about a lot when you start getting into world cinema. It's consistently rated highly by critics and cinephiles, but it's far from an easy watch if you're used to Hollywood fare. The action, such as it is centres around Marcello - a gossip columnist who spends his time flitting between nightclubs and fancy restaurants always on the lookout for beautiful girls and a juicy story. His life is shallow and forgettable - much like the the women he usually ends up with or the gossip he spends so much of his time chasing and writing about. We follow Marcello attending his regular haunts on numerous different occasions and feel the emptiness of his existence, as he drifts through life like a ghost. Fellini captures the mood of Italy on the cusp of the swinging sixties, it's fashions and foibles extremely well - which explains why this film's stood the test of time. |
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Malena (Giuseppe Tornatore - 2000)
Set in a small village in Sicily during the second world war. A beautiful young woman, played by Monica Bellucci, arrives in the village to be with her husband who promptly heads off to fight for Italy and is never heard of again. We follow Malena's trials and tribulations in her new life where the women scorn her relationship with her father and the young boys (and married men) lust after her. Malena, finding it hard to make ends meet succumbs to the offers of the men in the village in return for sexual favours, and when the village at large finds out about these circumstances they're filled with righteous indignation, shame, and finally a collective fury. The second half of this film is a dark and harrowing affair as the villager's torture and abuse Malena, and it's all the more shocking after enjoying the breezy style of the first half. |
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A Pure Formality (Giuseppe Tornatore - 1994)
Another fine film from Giuseppe Tornatore, this time featuring Gerard Depardieu being held captive by Roman Polanski at an old house in the country. We find out gradually through Polanski's interrogation that there's been a murder the previous night and that Depardieu is the prime suspect - especially considering he has no memory of what he was doing or how he arrived at the house in the middle of the night. Very dark, claustrophobic film, much of which the viewer may spend disorientated as to what's going on (as Depardieu feels). The interrogation itself is very well done, with all the action taking place in that one damp room and Depardieu giving another great performance. The revelation however is in Polanski's pitch perfect performance as the fastidious interrogator. |
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