Carmelo and Rosuzza his wife reunited against the backdrop of Italian Unification events: individual vs. collective story lines.

Blasetti known for other historical epics, takes the opportunity to tell the story of Italy’s unification from a personal point of view of a Sicilian patriot named Carmelo (Giuseppe Gulino) on a mission to reach Garibaldi’s headquarters in Genoa and get his help to rescue Sicily from the occupying Spanish Bourbons and German mercenaries. On his way, Carmelo runs into various Italian characters representing different dialects and views regarding the boiling political climate.

The film predated the Neorealism genre that typically referred to as starting with Roberto Rossellini’s Roma, città aperta – Rome, Open City (1945). However, you can already see the genre’s key ingredients at play: usage of non-professional actors, movie shot on location, and description of social rough realities from a commoner point of view. Stylistically, this film is a far cry from Blasetti’s light-hearted 1954 Too Bad She’s Bad – Peccato che sia una Canaglia another precursor. This time, to Italian comedy (Commedia all’italiana) genre that formally started in 1958 with Mario Monicelli’s Big Deal on Madonna Street – I Soliti Ignoti. Indeed, an interesting and prescient work evolution.

The camera movement takes a role of inquisitive “embedded journalist-like” that follows the events either as a follower of Carmelo on his journey, but also as an objective spectator of historical events such as the panoramic battlefield scenes. I especially liked the opening scene where you can see a close up behind window bars and then zooming out to reveal the context of a Sicilian village under rough Bourbon occupation – a simple, yet a powerful way to express the state of imprisonment.

The screening followed by panel discussion with Professors Alexander Stille and Stefano Albertini, and director Mario Martone. Here are a few pointers I found interesting:

• Director Mario Martone: His film Noi Credevamo – We Believed (2010) was also shown in the festival and provided a modern view of Risoregimento through the personal story of three friends joining activist Giuseppe Mazzini’s political movement (Giovine Italia) and the impact on their lives afterwards. Overall, there are not many films about Italy’s unification. Blasetti in this film is rather unique by explicitly conveying the brutality and physical rough aspects of the period, woven through a personal story. This technique makes the historical event more believable as viewers have tangible “real-life handles” to relate to.

• Prof. Albertini: The film is not about Garibaldi, in fact we don’t see him much throughout the film; only the facial reactions of soldiers listening to him speak. With that, Blasetti’s message is simple: The Risoregimento (Italy’s unification) was not about the larger than life leaders, it was about real people, with real stories that despite their cultural differences joined forces. This message of unity is interesting to examine against today’s Italian politics, where the separatist Northern League party for example refuses to celebrate the unification and sees it as a waste of money. Another difference, back in the 60’s Italians did not celebrate unification with flags, as it was frowned upon as radical, whereas in this year’s celebrations flags were widely used.

• Prof. Stille: Blasetti’s technique keeping Garibaldi’s role at a distance and focusing more on people around him processing his impact, was similarly adapted in Francesco Rosi 1962’s Salvatore Giuliano, the famous Sicilian gangster. It forces the viewers to conjure their own opinion about the renowned personality based on the impact of their emotional projection. The film also carries a gender element as Carmelo’s officer commands him not to move from his post to see his wife he hasn’t seen a month just a few miles away. The officer gives as an example Garibaldi who his wife had died, while he was away to reinforce Carmelo’s obedience and patriotism.

So as you can see this masterpiece has dual historical values: getting you introduced to an important chapter in Italy’s history, while at the same time experiencing initial ingredients of Neorealism – a cardinal chapter in Italy’s and the world’s cinematic history.

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This is an intense shot on reality. When we say the eloquence of silence. He makes the silence speak. Slowly, sweetly, deeply. Black and white, and we are already into a poem. Every single shot is a portrait of truth. It’s amazing the power of these images. We don’t need to speak to be understood if who is watching us can read a little deeper. Sorrentino can really drill through the soul of his characters.

A strong message towards the truth. A kind of, just be yourself. But also a message of being close to others, because anything in life is related to others. The match, with your companions, and the team work. And no matter who they are, young, old, father, friends, they are your team players. You have to trust all of them.

Very interesting the choice of a rugby match, an unusual sport in Italy, that gives the sense of team, of fighting together, where the compact strength of the group is very important.

A masculine message if you want, a message for men. However with no macho input at all. Instead an invitation maybe to reconsider the natural meaning of being a man, from the basic.

The location. A field in the suburbs of a big town. Where we think a strong message of hope is even more needed. And where the ground for simple values could be uncertain as well as more natural at the same time.

The characters. A simple working class family, very sweet and very true. There is this strong tight shred that links the whole thing. The grandma, the father, the mother, the son. What a cute picture. The family, an important value to support and to pursue for mutual benefits of all its components. Family as the first strong starting point for building a good sense of trust towards yourself, the others and the future. It’s a lovely movie, intense and rich. And artistically wonderful.

Buona visione.

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Can movies, as mirrors to reality, change it and give hope, especially in dark moments?

The answer is resounding yes, but “Per Fiducia” (“Through Trust”), a spirit-lifting project that with its three films wants to show the positive values that animates and drives Italy today.

When you think of all the myriad of phenomena we take for granted such as legal contracts, airport baggage checks, surveillance cameras, keys, borders and so on – these are all elements that were invented as a result of a slight “bug” in the human brain that sometimes takes over: the need to “game” the system at the expense of others.

And since most people got hit too many times, the issue of trust has become a well-regarded currency you share with just a few people you absolutely know and have established relationships with. Your best friend asks you can you lend me your car this evening I have an important date? Sure thing! Coming from a stranger – no way!

Maral Kinran and Stefania Berselli in a moment of uncertainty

In this film, director Ermanno Olmi returns to a familiar environment he has already explored in Tickets (Ermanno Olmi, Abbas Kiarostami, Ken Loach – 2005) – the train. The film tells the story of 3 teenagers that ride the train after winning first prize in a science technology contest for a smart, yet fashionable bracelet designed for kids with diabetes.

The contest is over, the temporary rush of winning was great, but what next? The prototype still needs money in order to turn it into a real product. Matteo (Matteo Bessone) ponders deeply this question. His partners, Stefania (Stefania Berselli) and Maral (Maral Kinran) reflect on this as well, as their faces are reflected in the window, superimposed over the moving landscape. Where are we headed? What’s in store for us when we get there?

Trains have been used in many films to portray life line itself. We’re all passengers who share the same train for just a short while. The movement forward indicates the passing time towards an unknown future, where the stations may signify milestones or opportunities along the way.

The chance encounter of the teenagers with the important professor (Maurizio Marchetti), on the train, initially plays out the common distrusts we come across when facing with sudden requests from complete strangers.

In this case, I liked the utter silence that came out from the professor’s collaborator (Marco Constantini). This is Olmi’s at his best. The person who speaks (professor) and shapes the reality is minor to the facial expressions of those that surround him, in this case the collaborator – that processes the verbal exchange and without saying a word, projects an utter distrust. Less is so much more.

The soundtrack with its grand entrance-feel of trumpets keeps reminding us of new beginnings; new ideas by young generations that take place everywhere. They may be delayed here and there due to some temporary setbacks, but they will finally arrive and make their mark.

The film’s universal message is loud and clear. Despite human innate suspicion due to the above described “bug” and occasional superficiality (enter Susan Boyle case), sprinkling a bit of trust around us can go a long way for a far better world.

Try it next time, you’re faced with the instinctive urge to dismiss something as distrustful and not help.

You can view the entire film below (10:15 minutes), and with English subtitles – here:

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Qualunque imposizione faccia su di noi, egli è servo
della Legge e come tale sfugge al giudizio umano
-Kafka

Whatever imposition is brought upon us, it is served
by the law and as such escapes human judgment
-Kafka

Morricone’s pounding soundtrack

In this Oscar-winning masterpiece by director Elio Petri, a head of homicide department in Rome is testing the boundaries of his authority to override a murder he himself committed. Played by the incredible Gian Maria Volontè, after many roles as the villain in Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, in this film you’d be amazed by his transformation into an urban mastermind of a murder that no matter how many clues he leaves for his own team to find and outright admissions he makes – his powerful position provides the ultimate shelter.

The film boasts a signature soundtrack by maestro Ennio Morricone, that provides a tense texture with persistent tempo to support on one hand the authoritative police inspector as he toys with his team, the media and even a harmless passerby, and the ongoing investigation – on the other. Interestingly, the rationale for this wry game, as the inspector puts it, is not to mislead his team but to prove his intact above-suspicion status. Above is a fine sample of this classic score.

Worth noting also is the solid delivery of Florinda Bolkan, in the role of Augusta Terzi, the inspector’s lover that can exude both sensual vulnerability, and determination that can easily make cracks in the otherwise bullet-proof power presentation of the inspector, thus bringing him into utter submission. In essence, her role plays a focal point for the whole plot as she constantly populates the inspector’s thoughts, triggering flashbacks to their shared wild relationship.

This photo is a good capture of her intoxicating power over the inspector, pulling him into her web of mind games, teases that leads into a final destruction, while all along using his power as police inspector to supply endless contexts for role-playing the victim vs. the authority:

Such a bold social criticism of corrupted officials you will also find in the earlier work of Francesco Rosi’s Hands over the City – Le Mani Sulla Città (1963). You can see even the use of the same imagery as the potent official sitting in his desk with a background map of his jurisdiction: