Reviews

In spite of Republican (and neo-con) knee-jerk outrage at all things coming from shock doc filmmaker Moore, this film was surprisingly tame, compared to his other ambush style films. Instead Moore opts for a film that, apart from occasional ironies and a very small amount of typical Moore in your face interviews, is pretty straightforward. Though many Bush supporters may try to portray the film as less than accurate, in fact much of the informational elements of the movie are old news: Bush's personal and family links to the Saudis and even the bin Laden family, Richard Clark's statements about the Bush administration's obsession with Iraq long before 9/11 etc. The real power of the film doesn't come from the typical Moore elements the right will try to pillory him over (including Hitchens, whose review on Slate.com was amazingly venal and silly), but from the soldiers in Iraq his crews managed to interview, and most importantly from a self professed patriot whose son was in Iraq. The screening I attended, on the first day of its release, seemed more like a political rally than a normal movie opening, and it was actually quite moving to feel the anger in the audience seeing all these things we already knew put together with a certain degree of irony, tragedy and farce. In the end, I found the film pretty tragic, from start to end, in spite of Moore's shlumpy sense of humor and approach, as the subject matters - the 2000 election and aftermath, 9/11, Iraq and Bush's approach to things and overall vacant and smirky attitude to things - were rather depressing. The fellow next to me was actually crying throughout the movie. I can't think of another commercially released documentary that might have the same galvanizing effect as this one.

In this tale of a boy's conflict with his father, mother and sister, di Robilant paints a picture of an Italian reality not often shown or considered in Italian films. As a result the film seems more British than Italian, with a kind of stiff upper lip emotional perspective, but the movie is both moving and interesting nonetheless. Mainly ignored when released except for some festival acceptance and awards, the film was highly under-rated, and showed both di Robilant's skills as a film-maker and a view of modern Italian life that that was both cynical and realistic. The family at the center of the story is dysfunctional - the mother is into Eastern mysticism, the father (played sternly by Bauchaut) selfish and proud; the sister, the apparent ally of the young troubled boy, turns out to be confused about her own life and of no use to her brother in the end. Sent to boarding school, the boy's life there is amusing, lonely and well drawn, and the film does a good job getting into the mind and heart of the rebellious, confused boy. The music, a score composed by Bruno Moretti, is catchy, charming and evocative. The photography and production design are elegant and true to life, in spite of a very low budget which is not at all noticeable. If you can get your hands on this film somehow, it's worth the watch. And look out for other films by this talented director.