Vincere (Director: Marco Bellocchio): Bellocchio’s latest exploration of Italy’s turbulent history is an operatic tragedy which mixes melodrama with the techniques of propaganda films from the Fascist period it depicts. Vincere (Italian for “Win!” and an authentic Fascist slogan) uncovers the little-known story (at least outside of Italy) of Mussolini’s secret wife and son. Ida Dalser is a middle-class woman who first meets the dashing Benito as he’s running from the police after a demonstration in Trento in 1907. The film flashes forward to the eve of the First World War and he’s now a leading figure in the Socialist party, who are advocating Italy’s neutrality in the war to come. Ida and Benito are lovers and her loyalty to him is unbounded, even as his ideas are changing and his ambition growing by the day. He breaks with the party, believing Italy should jump into the war and resigns his post as editor of Avanti!, the party newspaper. Ida sells everything she owns to help him fund his new venture, a paper called Il Popolo d’Italia. Soon after this, she becomes pregnant and in 1915, gives birth to a son, whom she names Benito Albino Mussolini.
She later discovers that her lover already has a wife, Rachele, and a daughter. Although he legally recognizes his son, he soon breaks off all contact with Ida and does military service at the front. Upon his return, he founds the Fascist movement and begins his rise to power. Upon taking the reins of government in 1922, he has Ida and Benito put under police surveillance and refuses all contact with them. He also suppresses all evidence of the relationship. In the film, Ida recalls a wedding ceremony, and claims to everyone to be Mussolini’s wife, but her increasing obsession and failure to produce any documentary evidence leads eventually to her commitment to a mental asylum. Her son is taken away and raised by a local Fascist deputy. Bellocchio directs the flashback in which Ida recalls her wedding perfectly, with just enough ambiguity to leave the audience wondering whether it ever occurred. It casts just enough doubt that her continued confinement doesn’t seem completely unwarranted, though we do sympathize with her.
The film does a masterful job of depicting Ida’s world. After he abandons her, Ida’s only images of Mussolini are from newsreels, which Bellocchio uses liberally throughout the film, accompanied by bold Fascist slogans superimposed as titles. Once the dashing young Benito becomes Il Duce, Ida’s world becomes increasingly claustrophobic and airless. She writes to everyone, including the Pope and the King, to state her case, but she is ignored.
This personal tragedy is played out alongside the tragedy that befell Italy during Mussolini’s rule. Although the larger political landscape is only glimpsed, we know that things don’t end well, either for Ida or for the nation. Bellocchio has crafted a bold and unflinching tale based on real events that shows the results of Mussolini’s obsessive pursuit of power. The score, by Carlo Crivetti, and the innovative use of propaganda footage add force to the film, but in the end it’s the strong performance of Giovanna Mezzogiorno as a tragic figure who, although a victim, is never a silent one, that makes Vincere so memorable.
(8/10)
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Genova (2008, Director: Michael Winterbottom): Genova is a psychological drama about a father (Colin Firth) and his two daughters Perla Haney-Jardine and Willa Holland) who struggle with the tragic loss of their mother (Hope Davis). Firth’s character thinks that a change of scenery will help the family to get through their bereavement and takes a teaching position in Genova.
Catherine Keener plays an old friend of Firth’s who shows the family around the city. The new surroundings serve as a distraction for the family but it also casts them further into an abyss of unsettling change. The narrow alleys in Genova make it easy to get lost and Winterbottom uses this setting to create tension.
The acting is first rate. Firth is perfectly cast as a husband and father who ventures alone into unknown territory — new city, new job, raising a teenage daughter who is coming of age and dealing with a 10-year-old daughter who blames herself for her mother’s death.
Perla Haney-Jardine provides a stand-out performance as a child who has frequent nightmares and is haunted by her mother.
Winterbottom’s Genova has been described as a mood piece but I wasn’t in the mood for this art-house film. I didn’t feel that Genova measured up to all of the praise that was lavished on it by TIFF’s Cameron Bailey. It’s a fine film with great performances but in the end I was disappointed. I suppose I wanted to see more of Italy and a little less grief.
(6/10)
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#tiff08,
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The Danish PoetTonight’s programme consisted of award-winning shorts released in 2006, and just watching them one after another led me to a few conclusions about short films in general. To compare them to written works, they’re a bit like poems to a feature film’s novel. And to compare to spoken word, they’re like jokes as opposed to sagas. With such a short amount of time, they need to make their points quickly, so there is often a high “cleverness” factor and the endings often feel like the punch line of a joke. This can work well, but a film that stands out is one that doesn’t make these tropes so obvious. Here, in my order of enjoyment, are tonight’s selections:
- The Danish Poet (Canada/Norway, 2006): With lovely narration from Liv Ullmann, this story felt the most organic and the least gimmicky. Even though there is a sort of punchline “payoff” at the end, it’s telegraphed early enough to set us down gently. The whimsical animation style and always-great use of animated (but non-speaking) animals made this a worthy Oscar-winner this year. Check out the film’s web site. (9/10)
- Dreams and Desires — Family Ties (UK, 2006): Another animated short, this one cleverly used animated sketches to simulate a wedding video filmed by the oddly cinephilic Beryl, a large woman of grandmotherly vintage. Her attempts to film the disastrous occasion in the styles of famous directors from Eistenstein to Riefenstahl, all the while keeping up a steady stream-of-consciousness narration, keeps this one rollicking along, despite the nearly impenetrable accents. (9/10)
- Tanghi Argentini (Belgium, 2006): This is a charming tale of an office drone who just might be an angel. André needs to learn to tango in two weeks so he can meet his Internet crush, so he turns to his colleague Frans to help teach him to dance. Will love bloom? (8/10)
- Contact (Raak) (Netherlands, 2006): Three characters paths cross again and again in this cleverly-edited short. There’s that word “clever” again. (7/10)
- The Substitute (Il Supplente) (Italy, 2006): A class of high-school students is terrorized by a Scott Thompson (ex-Kids in the Hall) lookalike, who then gets his comeuppance. Funny in an odd sort of way. (7/10)
- Make A Wish (Atmenah) (USA, 2006): A straightforward, almost documentary-like tale of a young girl who will go to any lengths to get a special birthday cake. Only it’s set in the West Bank. The filmmaking is pretty rudimentary and there’s a bit of a (tragic) punchline at the end. (6/10)
- Imagine This (Australia/Ireland, 2006): Sometimes a short should also be a “small.” Using found internet footage to make George W. Bush “sing” John Lennon’s “Imagine” was a pretty funny idea. But it really shouldn’t have made it off the YouTube site. (5/10)
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belgium,
canada,
denmark,
italy,
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norway,
palestine,
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worldwideshortfilmfest
Good Morning, Night (Italy, director Marco Bellocchio): Buongiorno, Notte (its Italian title) is a quietly powerful film exploring the events surrounding the 1978 kidnapping (and eventual assassination) of former prime minister (and leader of the powerful Christian Democrat party) Aldo Moro by the Communist-inspired Red Brigades. The irony is that Moro had just played an instrumental role in forming a coalition government in which the Communist Party were going to participate for the first time in Italian history.
We follow events through the eyes of Chiara, a young “revolutionary” who begins to have doubts about her participation. Moro, though held for almost two months, never seems to have lost his humanity or his inner freedom. In contrast, the terrorists seem isolated from the outside world, from each other, and even from themselves in the claustrophobic apartment that has become as much their prison as Moro’s.
This is not an “action” movie. It is more contemplative, and there is a real sense of sadness, despair, and wasted life that pervades every frame. The use of actual television footage from the newscasts of the time add authenticity and bring home the fact that this is recent history. The only weakness, in my opinion, are the many scenes of Chiara dreaming of different outcomes (her poisoning her comrades, Moro walking out free). I am glad the scenes are in the film, but it is sometimes difficult to determine when she is dreaming, imagining, or actually experiencing certain events.
Overall, a powerful and humane exploration of a dark moment in Italy’s history. Bellocchio doesn’t dwell on the many conspiracy theories that are still swirling about who was responsible for the murder. Instead, he makes a film that celebrates the value of life, and mourns its waste.
(9/10)
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italy
I’ve just discovered that one of my favourite films is being re-released this summer. Giuseppe Tornatore’s unapologetically sentimental Cinema Paradiso (1988) has had its soundtrack remastered and the director has restored 51 minutes of footage. This one looks like it’s being prepared for a long-deserved special edition DVD. If you’re a cinema lover, do yourself a favour and see this on the big screen. (View the new trailer)
Tagged as:
italy
