Reviews

In this masterpiece, freely inspired to "The Inspector General" by Gogol, Zampa gives us one of the best examples of Italian comedy in the period of "neorealismo". This comedy of errors reveals the widespread corruption behind the veneer of Patriotism and Fascism, that was largely the norm under Mussolini.

But it is not simply politics, because by looking at Fascism, Zampa makes us think about some invariables in human society: corruption, malpractice, petty men with petty interests. This general moral stance is one of the movie's strong points: as actor Manfredi says, in our society "Magna tu cche mmagno anch'io", i.e. "grab anything and I'll do the same".

It seems that Salvatores couldn't decide what to do with this movie: some of it is a very weak thriller (and I say very, very weak), some of it is an attempt to explore the relationships between the main characters. Both things have been tried in psychological thrillers, but in this case the movie cannot hold things together, due to poor, superficial scripting, bad acting and a too dark, too dull cinematography. I'd say that Salvatores gave his best in other genres and in other settings, where he was free to look at the characters without having to think about the plot. On the whole, a B-movie, hardly worth your money... Vote: 4/10

It is sooo slow, you'll wonder how you can reach the end. The idea would have been good with a teeeeny bit of rhythm. All the coups de theatre that you may find are wasted, since there is virtually no screenplay. This seems to be the biggest problem for people outside Disney (or Dreamworks). They have ideas, but do not know how to tell stories. Last but not least: the graphics. Weird is good, but if you go too far it becomes weird for weird's sake. Disappointing.

I really don't know why this movie received the Golden Lion.

I can see the pros: it is an emotional story, astutely directed by Mullan and intensely acted by the cast. Period.

But let me give you the cons: 1) the story is exaggerated: while every single episode may be likely or even true, the way they are put together makes the story doubtful; 2) characters lack depth, especially the sisters: they seem one-dimensional puppets, who don't have any traits except their main vice (be it greed, sadism, stupidity and so on); 3) photography is always dull, surely in order to give you the feeling of a prison. But in the few scenes outside the prison it's dull all the same, so maybe something is wrong; 4) there's no attempt to give a critical appraisal: the movie simply piles it on. The director looks like he doesn't care for your mind, he simply wants to hit you in the stomach. And he gets there all the time; 5) last but not least, the story is so schematic that it is misleading and ideological: nothing is good in the world of the movie. Church=bad, males=bad, society=bad. It's the kind of bad propaganda we could hear in Cold War years.

One is led to wonder what another director could have done with such shocking material: the fate of those 30.000 victims of ignorance and prejudice should have deserved something more. As I said, it is a great delusion.

"Casomai" is a masterful tale depicting the story of a young couple who wade through the murky waters of marriage. The story is very believable in telling the strange see-saw between oblivion and continuous interference by others, which is fairly typical in Italy (one may wonder whether such happenings are different elsewhere, though). Pavignano and D'Alatri were very good at writing, and that is one of the strong points of the movie. Acting by Stefania Rocca and Fabio Volo is sober and gripping. And the figure of the sympathetic priest is funny and well-rounded. All in all, a truly deserving movie, probably one of the best Italian movies of the year.

Sort of family parody blending "An Officer And A Gentleman", "Heartbreak Ridge", "Full Metal Jacket" (and without doubt other movies I am not able to remember now) into a rather dull movie, with some bright spots. The gags are always there where you would expect them, and Damon Wayans's lines are, well, predictable. As I said, unfortunately this movie never surprises you...

"Il Vangelo secondo Matteo" is probably the best film ever made about Jesus. The very sparseness of visual effects is evocative and highly suggestive: the supernatural is attained by showing very natural, even lowly people. Such an effect is emphasized by the use of non-professional actors: Pasolini probably owes something to the medieval Italian tradition of "rappresentazione sacra" (a representation of important moments of Jesus's life offered by everyday people), which is still practised nowadays. The powerful effect of Jesus's preaching is very well rendered by Pasolini, and this helps to forgive some poetical licenses on his part. In the end, anyway, this is not a movie you remain indifferent to: either you love it or you hate it. And this, maybe, is what contributes to making it a faithful representation of Jesus's life.

"La messa è finita" is one of the best movies ever directed by Nanni Moretti, telling the story of a young priest and his life among relatives and friends. Their problems urge the priest to evaluate more deeply his vocation. With regard to other movies by Moretti, this one is not as overtly autobiographical as other, more recent titles. This allows the characteristic irony of Moretti a more fluid hand in depicting the little tragedies of his generation. At the same time, he is able to provide a thoughtful and touching portrait of a young priest in an Italy which is less and less Catholic.