The film is titled Kaos as it’s the birthplace of Pirandello in this region. The opening quote reveals its seeming duality:

“…Io dunque son figlio del Caos; e non allegoricamente, ma in giusta realtà, perché son nato in una nostra campagna, che trovasi presso ad un intricato bosco, denominato, in forma dialettale, Càvusu dagli abitanti di Girgenti: corruzione dialettale del genuino e antico vocabolo greco Kàos.”

“…Therefore I am son of Chaos; and not allegorically but in true reality because I was born in the countryside, located nearby entangled woods named Càvusu by the inhabitants of Girgenti dialectal: corruption of the genuine and antique Greek name Kàos.”

-Luigi Pirandello

This statement clearly encapsulates Pirandello’s writing style that is also apparent in the film’s five tales showing how the lines between fantasy and reality often blur; words are worthless and reality can be false or true. It all boils down to how different people process information differently.  And this information could be textual or visual as each one of us carries his own “survival baggage” of experiences and memories to make quick assessment of the reality in front of us.

Since the film is long (182 minutes), I recommend watching it in installments, savoring each tale to its maximum quality.

Franco and Ciccio in the third tale: “La Giara – The Jar”

I especially liked the third tale “La Giara – The Jar” which brings an air of classic fable with a comic flair by leveraging Italy’s epic duo Franco and Ciccio. Human greed and power are downplayed in two ways: Don Lolò (Ciccio Ingrassia) acknowledges life’s misleading aspects as he laments about a poor peasant boy passing by with a huge load on his back:

“Look at that kid. He doesn’t have anything, yet he still has 60 years of life ahead of  him. And I who have all this, how many years left might I have 15, 20…”

And to underscore this point the role of Zi’ Dima (Franco Franchi) shows us how human shrewdness can overcome Don Lolò’s on paper great resources and power. The Pirandellian message is clear: never believe what you see.  It’s up to you to interpret the situation and find your way to meet your truth.

And with such a fine message,
I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year!

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US Trailer

It’s that great excitement you get when you come across a truly rewarding film by a director you have never seen much of his work, when everything seems to work exactly how you’d want it to be. And Mafioso by Neorealist director, Alberto Lattuada is simply that perfectly fun film. It’s the same sad story, these cinematic gems have limited distribution anywhere and are hard to come by. Unless the film is within the programming roadmap of the great people at The Criterion Collection, which is the case here.

You may have heard about Alberto Lattuda through his collaboration with Federico Fellini on Lights of Variety (Luci del varietà -1950), but his long and widely acclaimed work is known for his unique sensibilities of telling a simple story of the individual without compromise. “A good director is the one that can keep his audience nailed to their seats. Because the moment you see someone leaves the room that means the director didn’t do a good job like a scene that went too long…” Said Lattuada in a rare interview in the bonus section of this DVD.

This film brings one of Italy’s greatest actors, Alberto Sordi, to tell the story of Nino who has the perfect life – great job, wonderful family – who lives in Milan. Simply an ideal poster of the early 60’s when Italy has experienced the Economic Miracle (Boom Economico) with massive economic growth, characterized by the transition from relying on agriculture to industrialization.

You might want to think about this industrialization having the same impact as the Internet and the Digital Age of today. In this sense, you can see the portrayal of Nino’s life in Milan almost as the same period prime-time animated series The Jetsons – who lives in a futuristic utopia, using all kinds of gadgetry in their home. The same you find here in a fun scene when Nino is shaving, while at the same time cleaning his shoes – using all kinds of machinery.

And like today’s reality shows that bring together two complete opposite characters for us to watch the ricochets – Nino takes his ultra-modern family to visit his family in a small Sicilian village for the first time. The interesting element in this film is Lattuada’s unique style of moving the audience from comedy to drama, from Milan to Sicily to New York and back again. All in a fast-paced plot where every scene, camera angle and soundtrack is carefully calculated.

The film is augmented by the pounding score of Piero Piccioni, glimpses of which you can sample from the above trailer; on one hand, depicting a man’s warm-loving admiration to his family, and his hometown with all the memories and traditions it represents. However flanked by a dramatic score that emphasizes the enigmatic duality of an ordinary life, even robotic to some extent, yet with old storms looming. The sense that what you see isn’t always telling. It’s about the concept of displacement and the need to comply with your roots in order to keep your family safe millions worlds apart. To that mix Piccioni adds light swing tunes, specifically in the public space scenes in the village.

The opening and closing scenes vividly show the monstrous industrial machines that create metal objects and pass them along the assembly line. Could it be that this is a metaphor to Nino’s personality? Originally crafted in Sicily, passed along to Milan, yet still carries those base Sicilian attributes?

Think about it the next time you’re traveling back to your old hometown. How much of this place contributed to who you are today?

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On one hand you can look at this film and say it’s all about men camaraderie in effort to solve an economical problem, and indeed the relationships among the protagonists run the gamut from support, anger, humor, and compassion.

And yet, this film is known as the first to usher the Italian Comedy (Commedia All’Italiana) genre of the late 50’s that lasted until the 70’s. Director Mario Monicelli provides a unique opportunity to see in one film some of the biggest names in Italian cinema; comedian Totò, Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale in a minor role that started her career.

The film combines stylistic choices from the Italian neorealism, postwar film noir in the US and France, packed with a fine dose of comedy of errors. This mixed bag of styles provides the film with a sense of lightness and parody, specifically about Rififi, a French melodrama that was a big hit in those days in Italy.

I especially liked the jazzy soundtrack by Piero Umiliani that supports the plot’s rapid pace as the mastermind scheme to break a safe of a pawnshop in Rome, is “scientifically” planned and then hilariously executed.

Some of the scenes feels almost like a Pink Panther cartoon, as Cosimo (Memmo Carotenuto) attempts to rob a bank, covers his pistol under a newspaper approaches the counter with the barrel showing and asks the clerk “Do you know what’s that?” hoping to alarm the clerk to submit the cash. But surprisingly, the clerk calmly responds by taking the pistol from him and knowingly declaring the pistol’s model number and make. Cosimo with wide-eye shock immediately scurries away.

The film’s title “I Soliti Ignoti” (The Usual Unknowns) derives from a newspaper jargon that describes crimes executed by unknown criminals. The film had a sequel in 1985, named “Big Deal on Madonna Street – 20 years later,” directed by Amanzio Todini.

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If we do a good job for this worldwide company, we’ll be on the gravy train for more projects.

Sorry, for this class the train has already left the station – registration is over.

Thanks, but you’ve just interrupted my train of thoughts.

Trains offer a rich canvas for conveying many human contexts, challenges, disappointments and hopes. So it’s only natural that cinema would utilize this eclectic locomotive in various ways. And indeed, trains and train stations play a highly emotional role in Italian cinema and beyond. The dramatic sense of departure between loved ones towards the unknown future (I Vitelloni, Federico Fellini – 1953), the arrival to a new place and the constant search for the ever-waiting relative (Rocco and his Brothers – Luchino Visconti – 1960) – and many more.

Whereas in most films the train environment appears only in a few scenes to underscore a particular emotional development, then in this film the train is brought front and center and functions as the constant backdrop for the plot throughout the whole film.

Moreover, this film provide a cross-cultural triptych of three prominent directors; Ermanno Olmi (Italy), Abbas Kiarostami (Iran), and Ken Loach (Britain). Each brings his own artistic sensibilities to weave a story with characters riding the train from central Europe to Rome. The beauty of the film is how these characters transition from one story driven by one director to another. For that matter, it’s definitely worth viewing the Behind the Scenes bonus content to appreciate the careful planning that was involved in weaving these three independent plots into one cohesive artwork.

Often trains’ linear nature represent a metaphor for life’s winding rail where each station is another milestone en route to a final destination, that once accomplished nirvana supposedly descends. The same logic is also apparent in this film where Olmi, leveraging his signature style of using present to past flashbacks (see The Enagaged – I Fidanzati – 1963), Kiarostami by creating a somber brooding mood about past events and Loach by planting series of human miscommunications that unravel upon arrival to Rome.

No doubt, trains are vibrant microcosms where ephemeral human stories are produced every day. Think about it the next time you ride the train…

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