Snappy, gorgeous Blu-ray debut for Argento's sophomore effort, THE CAT O' NINE TAILS

As crisp and gloriously transferred as many of these new Arrow Video  Blu-rays so often are, the company's new one of THE CAT 'O NINE TAILS -- the second full-length film to be directed by Italian giallo maven Dario Argento -- is of a piece with so many of this fellow's films: sub-par plot and storytelling but with enough of the then-necessary amounts of violence and murder to sate the audience's appetite. What really nails this release, however, is its nostalgic time frame.

Released in 1971, the movie, seen today, proves a delirious walk down the memory lane of that era, with its fashions, home furnishings, hair styles and all the rest on major display. And with the stunningly produced new Blu-ray, with images as crisp as you could want and colors so rich and deep you can practically swim in them, this more than makes up for the usual, not-so-hot Argento story-line.

As with his earlier Bird With the Crystal Plumage, the filmmaker uses a couple of well-known stars of the day in the lead roles -- this time it's James Franciscus (above, right) and Karl Malden (above, left) -- abetted by an international cast (mostly Italian, of course) in secondary roles.

The movie begins well enough, with a burglary in which nothing seems to have been taken, followed by a murder (to keep that burglary quiet), and then another and another and so on. The setting -- one of them anyway -- is a genetics laboratory, and so naturally those tricky little X's and Y's come naughtily into play.

The movie may have been the first to tackle the theory that a certain X-Y combination results more often than not in violent tendencies, and so, of course, something must be done about the folk who carry this combo. (Spielberg's Minority Report is a more futuristic example of this sub-genre of "how-do-we-handle-possible-troublemakers?")

Being an Argento movie, however, little time or thought is given to morality or philosophy. Instead, the set-up is simply an excuse for multiple murders (above and further above). With a single exception, these are not nearly as bloody as other of this schlock-meister's oeuvre as, more often than not, they involve garroting via a very thin rope rather than using knives or hachets. (Argento's best film, Deep Red, has more gore, depth and a much more interesting plot.)

Unmasking the killer, too, is usually a lot more fun than it proves here (Oh, it's that one? Big deal.) And getting there is also a bit of a slough. Mr. Franciscus, above, plays a handsome journalist, while Mr. Malden, below, essays the role of a blind man and puzzle expert into whose care has come an orphaned child, who will become the final pawn in the murderer's game.

Early on, some time and trouble is given to Malden's ability to hear better than sighted folk, but then that ball is mostly dropped, too, as the corpses pile up. Along the way, we do get a few moments of genuine suspense now and gain. One of these -- more heavily manufactured than necessary --  involves some poisoned milk (below) and who is going to sample it.

The female lead is played by Catherine Spaak (above, and in pink further above), who fills the beauty bill just fine, while managing the acting stuff adequately. The better-than-average musical score comes from Ennio Morricone, and the little bit of humor present comes from a talented fellow named Gigi who is very good at breaking-and-entering.

Coincidence abounds, as is usual in the giallo genre, and we also get the kind of florid finale that movies so seldom give us anymore. The film is also casually homophobic, which was rather de rigeuer in the early 1970s. (The Dirty Harry sequel, Magnum Force, arrived just a couple of years later.)

The Bonus Extras and Special features included are of the usual Arrow Video plentitude and range from a fold-out poster and several lobby card reproductions to a limited edition booklet, Italian and international theatrical trailers, interviews with Argento and his co-writer, a commentary track, versions of the film in both English (with subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired) and Italian (with English subtitles), and of course the new 4K restoration of the film in a high-def Blu-ray 1080p presentation.

But, really, it's the last one that matters most. I swear you can count the threads in some of the sweaters and carpets you'll see here -- the film looks that crisp and sharp. And dig that crazy wallpaper above, which is either Jackson Pollack- or maybe Jellyfish-inspired. Oh -- those 70s!

From Arrow Video, distributed here in the USA via MVD Entertainment Group and running a too-long 112 minutes, Cat O' Nine Tails hits the street this coming Tuesday, February 13 -- for purchase, of course (you get all those "extras), and I would hope also for rental.

Open Roads 2013: Giovanna Taviani's IL RISCATTO (The Rescue or Redemption)

Shown as part of the Open Roads program that included the longer documentary, Handmade Cinema, IL RISCATTO (click and scroll down), which evidently translates to either "The Rescue" (as the FSLC program notes have it) or "Redemption" as the English subtitles during the film itself translated the word), by Giovanna Taviani (shown below), tells but a tiny part of the story of the ex-criminal (from Naple's criminal organization, the Camorra) and ex-prisoner Salvatore Striano, who starred as Brutus in the recent film from the Taviani Brothers, Caesar Must Die. (Ms Taviani is both the daughter and niece of these two film-making greats.) On the basis of what we see in this very short, very impressionistic and very limited film, both definitions serve the movie quite well.

Signore Striano (below) appears to believe (and actually tells us here ) that he has been "redeemed" -- by art, as he would have it. But he has also been "rescued" by artists such as Matteo Garrone (who used him in Gomorrah) and by the Tavianis -- first by the brothers, who gave him a leading role in their film (which did wonders for his reputation), and now by the next generation in this short film that is making its way around various festivals, showing Striano in a very positive light.

The fellow is impressive. I was blown away by Caesar Must Die, and also enjoyed Ms Taviani's short film, which gives us a tiny part of the man's history, lets him speak a bit and lead us around the little town where the Taviani brothers were born, and where the World War II events of their first huge success, The Night of the Shooting Stars, took place. In the course of the film, Striano explains that the Italian partisans who fought the Nazis killed for freedom and ideals, but that he himself, as a member of the Camorra, killed for nothing.

Striano's own personal freedom came, he says, via his introduction to literature -- Shakespeare and the like, -- and he has now played everything from Brutus to Ariel (we get to see a bit of both performances here). He's a good actor, too, with a somewhat showy style, and in fact, we get the sense that the guy is always acting. He knows how and where his bread is buttered. (He sometimes seemed to me just a little like the main character in Garrone's new film Reality, who is also played by a prisoner.)

Ms Taviani's impressionistic little movie is lovely, as far as it goes --combining sounds, music, literature, visuals (and Salvatore) into a most beguiling mix. Her shots of the surrounding countryside and architecture (below) are as rich and beautiful as her shots of the prison (above) are cold and empty, and when Striano appears, as well, the movie threatens to take off. Yet to really learn who this man is would take a long, full-length film, so this 22-minute movie finally feels like little more than a tease.

At the Q&A following the presentation, the filmmaker talked about how she came to realize that something more was needed about Salvatore and how the town of her father and uncle was important to the story. She also explained how "riscatto" has its two meanings, both of which work, though the audience seemed mostly set upon making redemption the more important one in this case. "How is Salvatore dealing with his success?" someone asked the filmmaker. "He is going through a very positive moment," the director told us, having now acted in Gomorrah and Caesar Must Die, in various plays and now her film -- as well as making personal appearances all over.

Taviani told us that Striano explained to her that, perhaps because she was a women, she has been able to bring out more in him. Usually he plays the tougher roles, the corrupt mobster, the more macho men. When he learned that she was going to America, he told her: "Tell the Americans that I exist because art exists." Hmmm. Well, OK. TrustMovies personally is of the mind that great art can indeed leave its mark upon people. Maybe at some point, Ms Taviani will really delve into this man and show us who he was, who he is, and explore how and why that difference came about.

You're yellow, AFA--yellow! Anthology Film Archives goes Giallo with a ten-day festival

GIALLO FEVER! is the title Anthology Film Archives (AFA) has given to its upcoming series of Italian slasher films from the 1960s and 70s that begins this Thursday, September 20, and continues through Sunday, September 30. "Giallo" literally means "yellow" in Italian, and the genre draws its name from the type of paperback Italian crime novels that bore bright yellow covers (which, in this case, you certainly can tell a book by) and that grew immensely popular during this period. So of course Italian movies co-opted the idea. TrustMovies has always been fond of this genre, unfortunately more for what it promised -- cheap thrills, chills and damsels in distress (often, unfortunately, rubbed out in very bloody fashion) -- than for what it actually delivered, for he was nearly always disappointed in the resulting movie.

The giallo depends on blood, gore and creative ways to kill, along with some terrific atmospherics and special effects ranging from those involving blood and dismemberment to others having to do with things like psychedelics. What giallos (the official plural is gialli) don't have much of are characterization, plot coherence, or credibility on any level. Talk about guilty pleasures: Gialli are among the guiltiest of 'em all.

AFA claims this series as New York's first showcase dedicated to this notorious Italian genre: a ten-film, ten-day "extravaganza of killers in black gloves, naked coeds, red herrings, bloody knives, deranged motives -- and a killer of a time! Apart from the signature blend of style and kitsch aesthetics, the genre also features some of the most innovative scores ever created, by the likes of Ennio Morricone, Riz Ortolani, and Goblin."

Well, OK. And while the genre, according to AFA, began in the 60s and grew hugely popular in the 70s, then pretty much disappeared in the 80s, it managed nonetheless to leave "a legacy of films often overlooked but widely influential on filmmakers such as Brian De Palma and Quentin Tarantino...." I'll say! Remember Dressed to Kill? Now, that's giallo done right. You get all the good stuff -- atmospherics, scares and blood, coupled to crackerjack acting, writing and directing. And a simply wonderful story, jam-packed with shock, surprise, scares and delight. (Yes, that's John Saxton, above, right, in the one black-and-white film in the series, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, aka The Evil Eye.)

While many of the films to be shown here were first released theatrically in the U.S. and are or have been available on VHS and/or DVD, Pupi Avati's THE HOUSE OF THE LAUGHING WINDOWS (above) and Lucio Fulci's DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING (second photo from top) were never theatrically released in the U.S. Fulci's film, in fact, is said to have had only a limited release, even in Europe at the time, due to its its criticism of the Roman Catholic Church. Avati's film, too, is heavy on the imagery of the sadomasochistic rituals of the Catholic Church. And both, as the AFA press materials point out, are set in provincial towns rather than the urban settings of most giallo films.

That's Vanessa Redgrave, above left, and Franco Nero -- who appear in the one real bomb in this series, A Quiet Place in the Country (see below). Following is the program schedule, according to the AFA, along with its own remarks about the films in question. After the listed screening times, if TrustMovies has seen this particular film, he'll offer his comments, too, which will appear after the words TM's view....

THE COMPLETE GIALLO FEVER! PROGRAM

Dario Argento
THE BIRD WITH CRYSTAL PLUMAGE / L’UCCELLO DALLE PIUME DI CRISTALLO 1970, 98 minutes, 35mm. Print courtesy of Cineteca Nazionale.

Sam, an American writer living in Rome, witnesses a murder attempt. Trapped by a glass wall, he fails to intervene but manages to scare off the killer. The victim survives, and Sam finds himself increasingly drawn to the story, putting himself and his girlfriend in danger. Argento’s assured debut practically reinvented the genre overnight. He infuses the Hitchcockian psychosexual narrative with a whole new visual style, lensed by Vittorio Storaro and scored by Ennio Morricone. See first-hand why Hitchcock himself is said to have declared that, “that Italian fellow is starting to make me nervous,” upon seeing this film.
–Thursday, September 20 at 7:00 and Monday, September 24 at 9:15. Special note; The star of this film, Tony Musante, will make a personal appearance at the Sept. 20, 7pm screening.
TM's view: I don't know why Hitch got nervous.  The master had depth of content and theme to go along with his amazing style. Argento simply had the style. If you've never seen this one, it's apt to disappoint. If you have, maybe there's more to find on a third or fourth viewing. (I found little, other than some fun visuals, on my second viewing, a couple of decades after the film was released.)

Mario Bava
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE / SEI DONNE PER L’ASSASSINO 1964, 88 minutes, 35mm.

A masked killer is on the loose at a fashion house where all the models end up dead in various gruesome ways. At the center of this is a diary left by one of the victims, which contains incriminating details about the killer. Bava uses light, shadow, and color to stunning effect in this visual spectacle. And as always, his violent set-pieces will dazzle any fan of the genre.
–Tuesday, September 25 at 7:00,
and Sunday, September 30 at 8:45.
TM's view: This is maybe the grand-daddy of all giallos, and it delivers the expected (both the good stuff and the bad) in spades. It also delivers that fine actor Cameron Mitchell in what might have been his swan-song, but simply became an odd mid-career move into something different, before the fellow went on to three more decades of film and TV (236 roles in all!).

Pupi Avati
THE HOUSE OF THE LAUGHING WINDOWS / LA CASA DALLE FINESTRE CHE RIDONO 1976, 110 minutes, 35mm.

Stefano arrives in a rural Italian village to restore the local church’s decaying fresco of the suffering of St. Sebastian. The artist was a madman who created art from real life, painting portraits of subjects near death from torture (a possible allusion to snuff films). As Stefano digs deeper into the dark secrets surrounding the artist, a chain of murders begins, and he finds himself at the center of the ensuing nightmare. This masterpiece from Avati will haunt you with its atmosphere of dread and its diabolical twist ending. 
–Friday, September 21 at 7:00, Monday, September 24 at 6:45, and Saturday, September 29 at 4:45.
TM's view: For me, so far at least, this has been the surprise of the series. I'd always imagined Pupi Avati as a director of so-so rom-coms, so to see his work here came as a shock. Beginning with the mutilation and murder of a hunky young man (this alone is a big change from the usual girls-get-offed giallo routine), with someone -- the victim? the murderer? -- going on at length about colors and paint, the movie brings a young art restorer to a small Italian town (where the population behaves very weirdly; of course this is standard for most giallo) to work on a church fresco of Saint (who else?!) Sebastian. Avati gets his smoke and shadows, his lighting and camera angles on target, the pacing is pretty good, and the locales are aces. And the movie wins the award -- and then some -- for the best use of a visible breast.

Lucio Fulci
DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING / NON SI SEVIZIA UN PAPERINO 1972, 102 minutes, 35mm.

A reporter pairs up with a promiscuous young woman to expose the string of child killings in a remote village in Southern Italy rife with superstition and distrust of outsiders. As the usual suspects are proven innocent or end up dead, he must look in increasingly unlikely places to find the killer. This is Fulci’s personal favorite and a must-see!
 –Friday, September 21 at 9:30 and Thursday, Septem-ber 27 at 7:00.
TM's view: This giallo is indeed unusual, and unusually dark, with a cast that includes Florinda Bolkan and Irene Papas. The human behavior is, as usual, a little too off-the-wall, and the whole thing doesn't quite jell properly. But it's still one of the better examples of this genre included in the series.

Sergio Martino
THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH aka THE NEXT VICTIM / LO STRANO VIZIO DELLA SIGNORA WARDH 1971, 98 minutes, 35mm.

Mrs. Wardh, played by the queen of Giallo, Edwige Fenech, harbors a secret vice that she keeps hidden from her older, diplomat husband. When a string of murders by a black-glovedkiller terrorizes the city, her sadistic former lover Jean reappears, intending to blackmail her. To make matters worse, she takes up with a new lover who convinces her to go off to Spain with him for her safety. But is she out of the woods yet? Of course not. The mysterious killer seems to have followed her there….
–Saturday, September 22 at 4:15
and Friday, September 28 at 9:30.
TM's view: This particularly loony movie has a ridiculous plot and even more ridiculous character behavior from its leading lady that appears, in retrospect, utterly baffling. Of course, those are two of the seemingly necessary delights of this genre. As to that "strange vice" of Mrs. Wardh (with an "h" yet? Well, that's classy!), whatever the movie might imagine this vice to be, it turns out that this poor woman has absolutely the worst -- and I do mean rock bottom -- taste in men.

Dario Argento
DEEP RED / PROFONDO ROSSO 1975, 98 minutes, 35mm.

A renowned psychic channels the thoughts of a killer and is soon after brutally murdered. David Hemmings (BLOW-UP) plays a British pianist who witnesses this killing from afar and launches a solo investigation, putting his own life in peril. The music by Goblin completes this stylish masterpiece by Dario Argento.
–Saturday, September 22 at 6:30 and Friday, September 28 at 7:00.

TM's view: This is my favorite of all of Dario Argento's work because it succeeds on so many more levels than the usual giallo -- particularly that of Argento's own oeuvre. The cast is better than average (Mr. Hemmings and Clara Calamai, for starters), the mystery is much more interesting and more intelligently resolved, and the set pieces are simply terrific -- plus there are all the usual atmosphere, gore and bizarre music we expect from this practitioner of the yellow.

Massimo Dallamano
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? aka THE SCHOOL THAT COULDN'T SCREAM / COSA AVETE FATTO A SOLANGE? 1972, 103 minutes, 35mm.
A teacher and a student having an affair are on a clandestine outing on a boat when they witness the stabbing of another coed. Other gruesome murders follow, and the teacher becomes the main suspect. Dallamano’s complex plot and the shocking climax make this one of the smartest Gialli ever made.
–Saturday, September 22 at 9:30 and Tuesday, September 25 at 9:00.
TM's view: This is one I have not yet seen but have heard very good things about. I'll report back as soon as I have viewed it. OK: Just rented it from Netflix, and its reputation is quite deserved. This is, hands-down, one of the most consistently interesting gialli I've seen. It offers everything the genre is noted for, including a particularly nasty means of death (but one that makes unnerving sense once we know the reason for it). What makes the movie so interesting is how the plot opens up and changes (and our reactions to the characters do, too), as the film progresses. The London locations are fun for a change, and lead actor Fabio Testi was one of the sexiest and most handsome males on the Italian film scene for awhile, so seeing him again -- and at his peak -- is quite a treat, as well. (This one plays one more time at AFA, but there is alwasy Netflix, if you miss it.)

Elio Petri
A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY / UN TRANQUILLO POSTO DI CAMPAGNA 1968, 106 minutes, 35mm.

Although rarely considered a Giallo, but rather more of a ghost story, Petri’s penetrating study of psychological decay is nonetheless full of the mystery and stylistics found in the genre’s best. Elio Petri does not usually come to mind in relationship to Giallo, but this film has many of the elements found in the best of the genre. The real life couple Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero are paired in this film. “This Italian-made color film, if you stay with it on its own terms, will absolutely nail you to the seat. … The picture visually hurtles and roars to a climax of complete logic and conviction, blending real and unreal images that will curl your hair. The total effect is devastating.” –Howard Thompson, NEW YORK TIMES
–Sunday, September 23 at 4:30, Thursday, September 27 at 9:15, and Sunday, September 30 at 6:30.
TM's view: Mr. Thompson of the Times to the contrary, as noted in my introduction above, this film is the turkey of the series. It's not even properly giallo, as the AFA admits. Instead it's three artists -- Redgrave, Nero and Petri (well, 2-1/2, as Nero is not up to the level of the others) -- gone slumming on a project better left to their lessers. Never much of an actor, Nero embarrasses badly, with little to offer except his pretty looks and a dumb, dense stare meant to represent fear, shock, incomprehension, desire or what have you. The budget is big and the sets are nice, but the story's from hunger. While the film makes use of a lot of the then-current visual pyrotechnics of the time (the late 60s), this one doesn't come near giallo's requisite atmospherics and "creepery."

Mario Bava
THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH aka THE EVIL EYE / LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO 1963, 86 minutes, 35mm, b&w.

Nora Davis’s holiday in Rome takes a sudden turn for the macabre when she witnesses the murder of a woman on the Spanish Steps. The next morning there is no trace of the crime, but Nora soon learns that there had been another murder ten years ago at the same location by the so-called ‘Alphabet Killer’. Her morbid curiosity takes her deeper into the story, and before long she discovers that the next victim’s last name starts with D! And who is that man following her? Widely regarded as the first Giallo, Bava’s stylish homage to Hitchcock’s ‘Americans Abroad’ thrillers is a natural entry-point into the genre.
–Thursday, September 20 at 9:30, Sunday, September 23 at 6:45 and Saturday, September 29 at 7:15.
TM's view: Here's another film I have not yet seen, but hope to (and report on) before the festival is finished.

Lucio Fulci
PERVERSION STORY aka ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER / UNA SULL’ALTRA 1969, 97 minutes, 16mm.

A doctor is caught between his mistress and his asthmatic wife. When the wife is murdered, all eyes turn to him, as he holds the insurance claim on her life. Fulci’s first Giallo shares unmistakable similarities with Hitchcock’s VERTIGO, capturing the mood of late-60s San Francisco. Sexual obsession, depravity, and deception converge in its surprising climax.
–Sunday, September 23 at 8:45 and Saturday, September 29 at 9:15.
TM's view: Just as the "daring 60s" turned into the "silly 70s," this giallo's sense of perversion comes a little too close to borderline camp. The actors -- Maria Mell, Elsa Martinelli, and the Frenchman who was prettier than both his co-stars, Jean Sorel -- give the movie some beauty but the story is generally tiresome, though the San Francisco locations are fun, as are the clothes, cars and hairstyles of the time.

To learn more about AFA, click here. To learn more about the Giallo Fever series, click here. And to learn how to reach AFA by subway, bus and auto, click here.

Note: If you cannot get to this series or live too far away from NYC, take a look at Netflix's streaming choices (some of the films are included there), or elsewhere in the realm of digital/streaming/downloading.  

As Ferzan Ozpetek's LOOSE CANNONS hits DVD & VOD and MAGNIFICENT PRESENCE opens the recent FSLC Italian fest, we do a quick Q&A with one of Italy's top directors

From his directorial debut Steam, though the gorgeous Harem Suaré and the surprising, bracing Ignorant Fairies (best know here on DVD as the tritely-titled His Secret Life) to the ever more sophisticated in style and story Facing Windows, Sacred Heart and Saturn in Opposition, Ferzan Ozpetek, born in Turkey but raised in Italy, has become one of the latter country's currently most famous and loved filmmakers.

As Ozpetek's penultimate (for now) movie Loose Cannons, has just becomes available on DVD, VOD and iTunes via Focus Features, and his latest film, Magnificent Presence, was chosen as the opening night selection at the recent FSLC Open Roads fest of new Italian film, this seemed a particularly good time to speak to the man.

Just below, I have re-posted my earlier coverage of Loose Cannons -- from its appearance at the Tribeca Film Fest (where it won two awards) two years back -- followed by my recent shorter review of Magnificent Presence. Following these is the interview with Ferzan that took place on Friday afternoon, June 8, 2012.

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Who'd have imagined that a current movie about a gay man coming out to his family might have anything remotely new or interesting or even particularly entertaining to say?  Turkish-born, Italian-bred Ferzan Ozpetek (shown below): that's who -- and so he made this film.  Bless him for it -- because LOOSE CANNONS (Mine vaganti) turns out to be not only new, interesting and entertaining but deeply felt, lavishly funny and one of the most visually beautiful movies to arrive on our shores in quite some time. (It was filmed in Southern Italy, in and around the city of Lecce.)

Premiering this past February at the Berlinale, it was chosen for the just-concluding Tribeca Film Festival, where -- the evening I viewed it -- audience response seemed overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Because you can never be certain that a foreign-language film, even from a director as well known as this one, will secure distribution these days, I recommend you see this movie now.

Signore Ozpetek has been to the gay well a few times before -- Steam, Ignorant Fairies, Facing Windows, Saturn in Opposition -- always from a different angle and always successfully.  What he consistently manages, and what I think I love most about his work, is that he approach homosexuality as one part, sometimes hugely important, other times less so, of the world at large, in which so much else is terribly important, too.  Family, friendship, work, health (mental and physical) are prime among these, and in Loose Cannons, they come together in a combustible mix that offers everything from drama to farce, fantasy to a reality that moves from chuckles to tears.

A young man named Tomasso (Riccardo Scamarcio, shown above, left), from a wealthy family whose business is pasta-making and who is about to join forces with another prominent family, has deci-
ded to own up to his homosexual orientation -- after which, he ex-
pects his father to chuck him out of home and business, freeing him to move in with his lover and pursue a writing career. Not quite. One big surprise lies in store, followed by several lesser -- most of which cause ebullient laughter but sometimes a deep loneliness.

You may know young Scamarcio from My Brother Is an Only Child, or from Costa-Gavras' still unreleased Eden Is West. After being swaggering and studly in the former, frightened and vulnerable in the latter, he is by necessity manipulative and quietly thoughtful here -- and is proving himself a more versatile actor than the pretty face with the very sexy body that we might have initially imagined.  While this movie is primarily Tomasso's story, Ozpetek insists on seeing things from many angles, and so we slowly begin to understand -- and feel for -- several generations.

The film begins, in fact, with a reminiscence of the grand-
mother (Ilaria Occhini, at right, seated) regarding her younger days (the penulti-
mate photo, below).  We learn what happened to her only slowly. The co-writer (with Ivan Cotroneo) and director gives us enough information to begin to piece together the story of this now aged but still gloriously strong woman, but we do not know it all until the finale.  Meanwhile we meet a group of people -- family, friends, business associates -- who are as diverse as they are memorable.  Dad (the wonderful Ennio Fantastichini, shown at right, three photos above), mom, Aunt Luciana (dizzy and sweetly sad Elena Sofia Ricci, shown two photos above, center, with glasses), brother Antonio (a terrific Alessandro Preziosi, standing, above right) and especially Alba, the daughter of the prospective business partner, played by the alluring Nicole Grimaudo (below, center).  Ms Grimaudo, in particular, captures a character -- nasty, funny, distant, dark, needy -- who grows more complex with each scene until she very nearly breaks our heart.

One of the great strengths of Ozpetek is allowing us to view life and sexuality from so many points of view: Here we see how the parents looks at things, the grandmother, the younger generation, straights, gays and a couple who may be more bi-oriented than they might like to admit.  There are moments between the two outsiders, Tomasso and Alba, that bond them in ways both sexual and on a level of deep friendship.  There is also some delightfully criss-crossed humor when a group of Tomasso's friends from Rome, shown at bottom, pay a visit.

The film's finale is an amazing blend of fantasy and reality, of time present and past, of what we deeply wish for but may never see.  This scene may remind you of the finale of some other films -- the little-seen-in-America Flight of the Innocent came immediately to my mind -- but Ozpetek makes it his own, and it seems as if everything he has ever learned about cinema is incorporated here.  Threatening to be too much, instead it keeps unfurling until love, sex, family and friends join in a spectacularly vibrant and moving dance of life.

About as arthouse/mainstream as it is possible to get, Loose Cannons delivers the goods.  As I go to press, the film has just won one of the two Tribeca Fest Special Mention Awards. Will some distributor -- Strand, IFC, Film Movement -- please step up to the plate and gift movie-lovers with this joyous celebration?  (Current after-thought: thanks, Focus Features, for at least making the film available on DVD/VOD.)

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MAGNIFICENT PRESENCE

written and directed by Ferzan Ozpetek

When TrustMovies departs this world, one of his regrets will be his inability to see any more of the films of Ferzan Ozpetek -- which are gorgeous to view, deeply felt, and usually deal in some way with the gay experience. What he loves most about Ozpetek is that this filmmaker always places his (often gay) protagonist as simply one element among many within the vast canvas of the world as it is. Granted, it's an important element, but it never -- as happens in so many "gay" movies -- treats the rest of the world as less important, less special or less good (or, for that matter, bad). Usually Ozpetek gives us ensemble dramas/comedies. In his newest work, Magnificent Presence, the filmmaker stars Elio Germano -- extending his past work as a prime Italian everyman to now include a glorious Italian every-gay-man -- as a fellow soon surrounded by that ensemble. And they're all ghosts. However, these are a very classy, retro and delightful bunch of spirits, being part of a left-wing theatrical troupe in the Italy of the 1930s and 40s.

Our hero, Pietro (played by Germano, below, who has already given us a gallery of remarkable performances, from Do You Like Hitchcock? to My Brother Is an Only Child and The Past Is a Foreign Land to name a few), has come to Rome to be an actor, as well as to seek out a filmmaker fellow he's in love with -- though he tells his rather too-amorous female cousin that he is not even sure what sexual preference he possesses. As feel-good a film as Ozpetek has concocted -- and it is: I don't remember feeling this good, this moved, at a movie's end in a long while -- the writer/director also provides us with a couple of surprising scenes in which he unveils character flaws so great that they change not only the individual but make waves that can topple others and maybe even society itself. One of these involves Petro's would-be boyfriend, the other a member of that theater troupe who is now an elderly lady (played by Anna Proclemer, above).

Ozpetek also gives us some glorious, richly funny and appealing moments (the ghost group's introduction to modern technology and the internet is one such). But this tale of Pietro and his unusual houseguests builds into something more than a mere ghost story. If we accept the homosexual -- as I think we must at this point in our society and for all the supposed strides we GLBT's have made -- as yet remaining an outsider, an "other," then Pietro's inability to fit into society takes on great meaning. Our young man has finally found the place where he belongs, and the film's finale -- a wonderfully sustained piece of movie art -- offers such beauty, sadness and joy that it defines the word poignant.  Magnificent Presence, which made its Italian debut only last month and scored big at the box-office by being both accessible and special, plays twice at Opens Roads. Both screenings are at the Walter Reade theater. Note: The director and his star will both appear at the Friday evening performance. (All this is over now, but, if interested, you can view the entire Open Roads series here.)

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TrustMovies was late for his interview with Ferzan Ozpetek, but he has an excuse, sort of: He was on the M104 bus coming uptown from the special luncheon at Barbetta to celebrate the opening of Open Roads, and he was chatting with the FSLC's Richard Peña, who was also on that bus, discussing the work of Mr. Ozpetek. It was so much fun (Peña's a font of good information and a lively conversationalist) that TM missed his stop and arrived ten minutes late. Ferzan and his translator (the filmmaker speaks English pretty well but prefers to have a translator for certain moments -- and idioms) were most graciously forgiving, however, and so we set right to it: 

Ferzan – it’s good to see you again, and before I forget, I bring you greetings from Ivan Cotroneo, at whose table I sat for the Open Roads luncheon this afternoon. I haven’t seen his movie KRYPTONITE! yet, but what a lovely man he is! (Now, a couple of weeks later, I have seen it and it’s wonderful. You can read about it here: click and scroll down) 

He’s a wonderful guy. We worked very well together and I hope in the future that we can work together again. (Ferzan's attention is taken by a photographic portrait on the wall opposite.) Who is that lady, there? I do not recognize her…. (Ozpetek points to a photograph hanging on the hotel wall of Leona Helmsley. We’re sitting in the lobby lounge of the Park Lane on Central Park South, a hotel once owned by the late tax-evading dog-lover.) 

Oh, that’s Leona Helmsley who used to own this hotel, and now, I guess, her estate does. She was among the most hated women in New York City in her day. They called her the Queen of Mean. (Our excellent translator, who is clearly familiar with Leona and her history, chuckles and then fills Ferzan in, and I hear bits and pieces reminiscent of “Only the little people pay taxes,” and something about the immense fortune she left to her dog. The translator suddenly turns to me and asks--) 

How much money did she leave that animal?

You know, I’m not sure. But it was a lot. And it made sense, actually, since I doubt she had many human friends left at that point. And please tell Ferzan that, were Leona still alive and heard him ask the question "Who is that it in the photograph on the wall? she would have had him barred from this hotel immediately! If Ferzan is familiar with the term narcissist, he'll understand her personality. (The translator laughs and translates to Ozpetek) They also made a TV movie about her some years back that starred Suzanne Pleshette -- of The Birds. 

(But we’re digressing badly so we talk about Ferzan’s latest film: the absolutely lovely, funny and poignant ghost story Magnificent Presence.)

The last time I interviewed you, it was the year, I believe, that your film A Perfect Day played at Open Roads…. So that was three years ago, maybe...?     

Yes, because two years ago Loose Canons did not come to Open Roads but came to the Tribeca Film Festival. So, yes, three or four years ago was A Perfect Day…

Which I thought at the time was your darkest film. It was good to see you work in such a dark vein. But then you made Loose Canons which is one of your funniest, most delightfully expansive movies – and which Ivan says was his favorite experience, ever, working on a movie. (Ferzan grins) Ivan also told me that Focus Films is releasing this movie on DVD and VOD, so America will finally get the chance to see it. 

Yes.

And now we have Magnificent Presence – which is my favorite of yours. But actually, each time you make a movie, it’s hard not to feel it’s my favorite of your films. 

Thank you.

And you don’t always make the same kind of movie. Which is wonderful, too.

But I think I do make the same things but ….

In different ways? 

Yes. I always do the same thing, I think, I but I treat each one differently. There is a connecting thread to all my films -- but each time is different. They are always about similar topics: human relationships, friendship, sentiment, emotion, but always treated differently. Or at least, I try.

One theme I find throughout your films is “How does this protagonist fit into the greater world around him? 

In this film, one of the topics is purity-of-heart. For example, this fellow has been to bed only one time, three years ago, with this person, yet he imagines that this man must be the love of his life. He has a very unusual view of things, and while this makes him something of a fool, he is also rather pure. In a way he is goodness personified in this world of egotism and people thinking only of themselves. My actor Elio Germano, whom I admire a lot. He is so strong.

He’s wonderful -- and so versatile. 

At one point in the filming I just told him, Well, be like Bambi. That’s it!

Bambi? The deer? 

Yes! While I was saying that I could see his eyes widening in understanding. So he was able to perform.

That scene when the man he imagines to be his true love comes to dinner is shocking -- but for two reasons. First, because Elio – Pietro – seems like a stalker. But when you think about it, the fact that they had sex once and for Petro it was wonderful, so of course he imagines that they will follow up on this. But for the other guy, it didn’t matter at all -- just another one-night-stand, business as usual. He doesn’t even have the courtesy to respond to Pietro by email -- to say something like, “Look, I am sorry if I misled you, but I have no interest in pursuing this.” But he doesn’t bother to tell Pietro anything. So while you can see Pietro as a stalker, you can also see this other guy as a real piece of shit. 

One of my issues, my challenges in the script was that I had to create the situation where the first contact between Pietro and the ghosts seemed like something that was credible. So when they sit down to dinner, it’s a repetition of that earlier dinner scene with the other man. You sense that Pietro is so desperate, so close to rock bottom, that he will now accept even these ghosts and so will not be afraid.

Yes, and this makes the finale of the movie all the more moving -- when you realize that he is now where he belongs. And he knows this, he feels it. 

Since Pietro is the only person who sees the ghosts, I tried to make that mostly apparent on Pietro’s face at the finale. Originally I made the end five minute long, and you didn’t see the ghosts performing onstage. You only saw the expression of Pietro’s face.

Wow – really? 

There was a critic, a friend of mine, actually, who told me what made the film so moving for him was that there would seem to be only two ways to react to these ghosts. You could try to make them leave, exorcise them, or you yourself would have to leave. The fact that you would take them all on the tram and go to the theater with them is what makes the ending so interesting and moving.

Again, this is about the protagonist finding his place in the world. And while this may limit his further growth, he certainly has found a place. 

Perhaps, but at the same time this experience will have changed him. His happiest times were those he spends with the ghosts. But once he leaves the theaters and goes back home, perhaps he will strike up a relationship with the guy next door, who clearly likes him.

But how terrific that you did not end the movie that way! (He smiles and shakes his head, yes.) Tell me something about that wonderful actress, Anna Proclemer,  who plays the old lady, the one person left from the theater troupe who is still alive. I went on the internet and found photos of her as a young woman – quite beautiful.

She was a very famous theater actress. She made only a few films, and her last movie was the Vincente Minnelli film with Ingrid Bergman and Liza Minnelli – Nina.

Yes, we called it A Matter of Time. That scene with Proclemer in your movie is so wonderful, because it darkens the film in a way that it needs, and this works so well. So: What’s next for you? 

I write now. I write with Gianni Romoli – with him I make five movies: Ignorant Fairies, Facing Windows, Sacred Heart, Harem Suare and Saturn in Opposition.

Sacred Heart was shown at Open Roads years ago. That was one movie that has no gay element.

Yes, and neither does A Perfect Day. I remember that at a Q&A at a screening in Florence at the time, they asked me, Why did this movie has nothing gay in it? I was sort of taken aback at this because usually, they ask you, Why does your movie have a gay element in it? So I thought quickly, and told them, "Well, you know the aunt in the movie is actually a lesbian. But I preferred not to show this in the film."

As we have to end now for your next interview, I just want to say that you are one of my favorite moviemakers in the world. But of all the moviemakers who makes films that deal with gay themes, I love yours the most because they show gays as part of the world at large, in a way that makes them included but not seeming to be the center of that world. Thank you for that. 

My aim is always to show life, but not necessarily to make gay films. But at the time that I made Ignorant Fairies, people told me, Finally – this is a really radical gay movie showing characters who are loved and appreciated. It didn’t show the usual conflict and was far more inclusive of humanity as a whole.

All you movies do this, I think. Thank you, Ferzan. Thank you so much for your wonderful films.

The photos above are from the respective movies, 

except for the first and final photos, 

which come courtesy of greenobles.com