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Reviews
Padre e figlio (1994)
Bravo to Placido and Dionisi
The story of a working-class family in Genoa, both father and son struggle with meaninglessness, frustration expressed in different ways, and an inability to understand one another. The on-screen chemistry between Michele Placido and Stefano Dionisi really *makes* this film...and the rest of the cast isn't too shoddy, either. Hard to find outside Italy, but worth the effort.
Correre contro (1996)
Sometimes our 'disabilities' are in our head.
Subtle look at the fears we each carry around, about putting our hearts on the table.
All the actors do fine and well-shaded work here, but the movie is sustained by a magnetic and utterly convincing performance from Stefano Dionisi in the lead role (Pablo), a paraplegic with a chip on his shoulder. Tibaldi has created a character who is alternately caring, sympathetic, judgmental, touchy, proud and plain annoying--and Dionisi carries it off without a false note anywhere.
A couple reviews have said this isn't a film about the disabled, and the rehab center is only the setting. True enough, as far as it goes. But that's a bit like saying "Smoke Signals" was a film about fathers and sons and not about Indians or rez life. Certainly it was a film about Indians! But paradoxically, universality lies in particularity. Correre Contro (Running Against) is a film about a disabled man who shares the same fears as the rest of us, but his experience of them is shaped by living in a wheelchair. The real point, I think, is that this isn't a silly film full of histrionics and spelled-out morals.
If the film has a fault, it's probably the camera-work. Sometimes the shots were clever and startling, sometimes just startling. In a couple places, the camera work actually kicked me out of the "world" of the movie. At that point, it's getting in the way. But overall, a small complaint.
It's a real shame this film by Tibaldi hasn't been picked up for US distribution.