Open Roads 2013: THE FIRST MAN, Camus' final novel, given great life by Gianni Amelio

Not to dwell on it, but there was a time that any movie from Marco Bellocchio or Gianni Amelio would be given a theatrical release over here. No question. Now, new films from both these masters still languish, awaiting U.S. distribution. Thank god for Open Roads, then -- which came to the close of its seven-day program yesterday evening -- in which the Bellocchio & Amelio films and ten more were screened to great enthusiasm by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Istituto Luce Cinecitta, to give those of us in the tri-state area, at least, the opportunity to see them. The final film for TrustMovies was Amelio's truly extraor-dinary THE FIRST MAN, an adaptation of the last novel by Albert Camus, unfinished at the time of his death in an auto accident.

Signore Amelio, shown at left, has given us a profound experience with this movie, which looks at Algeria and the French who colonized it, during both the teens and 1920s (when our leading character, a successful novelist named Jacques Cormery, was a child) and again at the end of the 1950s, when the French-Algerian War was heating up and Cormery returns to Algeria to visit his aging mother and assess her's and the country's situation. In many ways The First Man  is a French film, about France's history, spoken in French, using mostly French and Algerian actors. Yet is clearly stamped with Amelio's character and preoccupations: his use of stillness and concentration to communicate so well the deepest feelings of the characters. Perhaps the tale needed an outsider -- one with the particular and humane understanding that an Italian like Amelio offers, allowing us to experience Algeria so richly and from several points of view.

The film has been cast extraordinarily well, with the versatile French actor Jacques Gamblin (above) in the lead, as the older Cormery, and a very good young actor, Nino Jouglet (below, and French/Italian, maybe?) as his younger self.

As the mother, clearly of Algerian descent and who never learned to read, Maya Sansa (below) brings a brooding, loving and controlled fierceness to her performance,

while Catherine Sola (below) offers a performance of great solitude and quiet reflection as her older counterpart.

In the role of Jacques' teacher and mentor, Denis Podalydès (below) brings to the tale his gift for making intellect immediate and important.

What the movie captures best, however, is the Algerian experience with the French, via one particular family, the father, a kind of town dog catcher; his son (below, left), who is a school-mate of Jacques; and then that son as an older man, with his own son, who is now in major trouble with the French forces. In this family microcosm, we see the inequality that Jacques, as novelist and public figure now fights against, and which puts the lie to that famous French motto of Liberté, égalité, fraternité, so far as Algeria is concerned.

Amelio never punches his points home. He allows them to sink in via a literate script, quiet moments and the marvelous faces of the actors on view. (That Algerian son of the son, has but a single scene in the film, but he and his face will probably linger in your memory, to surface whenever thoughts of Algeria come 'round.)

The First Man is perhaps the finest film I've yet seen about the French in Algeria -- up there (but in its own quiet manner) with The Battle of Algiers (ah, another Italian filmmaker who tackled this subject!). It's a keeper, and the fact that it was made two years ago and still has no U.S. release is shameful. The movie joins It Was the Son and Dormant Beauty as the three must-sees of this Open Roads festival. Which unfortunately is now over, so I don't know just how these must-sees even can be seen....

By the way, here's a special shout-out to 

FSLC Programmer Marcela Goglio, who programmed 

this year's series. I admit that I was hesitant at the thought 

of Open Roads without Richard Pena, who retired last year, 

but Ms Goglia has done a superb job. Thank you!

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.

Open Roads 2013: In Maria Sole Tognazzi's I TRAVEL ALONE, a smart woman matures

Sure to be one of the more popular films in this year's Opens Roads, the new work by Maria Sole Tognazzi is -- in terms of both entertainment and audience apprecia-tion/understanding -- quite a bit more successful than her last work seen in this annual series back in 2009, The Man Who Loves. It's a lot lighter, too -- in theme and on its feet -- than the earlier and darker romantic drama. Best of all, perhaps, for audiences who love to travel but these days can't afford so much of it, I TRAVEL ALONE provides 85 minutes of nearly non-stop reveling at five-star hotels, from Gstaad to Marrakesh, Berlin and some eye-popping Italian locations of which TrustMovies had never seen nor heard.

The film's leading character, Irene, played by the wonderful Margherita Buy (shown below, also in this year's Discovery at Dawn) is one of those "mystery guests" that drive hotels, restaurants and retailers crazy by pretending to be a regular customer but then checking and rating everything from the cleanliness of the room (and staff) to, well, you'll find out quickly, as Ms Tognazzi, shown at right, opens her film with a terrific little segment on some of the things to look for in grading your typical five-star hotel.

As much as Irene loves her work -- and as good as she is at it (her boss keeps piling more hotels on her because, as he notes, the other girls fall in love or marry or get pregnant) -- her own personal life is not so much a mess as barely there.

Her sister and brother-in-law (lovely performances from Fabrizia Sacchi and GianMarcoTognazzi, shown respectively, left and right, above), and their kids (below, whom Irene babysits now and then and actually takes on one of her "rating" trips, at which the kids prove pretty good!) keep her occupied but, as sis points out, it's often as though Irene is not really there.

Her best friend of 20 years is a love-and-sex relationship that didn't work out, played by Stefano Accorsi (below, with whom Ms Buy starred some dozen years ago in Ignorant Fairies),

who is suddenly involved with a woman (Alessia Barela, below) who seems more than merely a one-night-stand, and so Irene squeezes herself into this relationship, as well -- all the while traveling and grading and doing it in first-class fashion.

Watch Irene's concern at one particular hotel switch to a younger couple -- clearly out of their element in this swank environment -- and later see and hear her confront the hotel manager, and you'll view an egalitarian woman at the top of her game, quietly and correctly nailing to the wall the hotel and its supposed service.

The above scene is extremely well written, as is much of the movie, especially the meeting of and the relationship that develops between Irene and a well-known anthropologist, played beautifully by Britain's Lesley Manville (above, right, and below, left).

That relationship and its result set off a change in our heroine. Fortunately, it is one that doesn't presage huge growth or life-shaking consequences. It simply trips a switch that leads to some re-thinking and a little interesting action.

Some might call I Travel Alone feminist. Ms Tognazzi certainly has the concerns of women on her mind, but she doesn't slight nor condescend to her male characters. I'd call the film humanist. I'd also call it a very good movie. It's like taking a wonderful vacation during which your mind and eye get a lot to savor.

One caveat:  Since Irene visits so many hotels, after which in each case she confronts the management and thus gives away her identity, wouldn't she -- and her credit card -- soon be tagged as a "mystery guest"? (She clearly needs, like Jason Bourne, a bunch of different identities, passports and credit cards in order to do her job properly.)

If you don't get the opportunity to see the film during Open Roads -- last evening's showing was sold out, but there is one more on Wednesday, June 12 at 9pm -- don't fret. Yet. I am told that the film may be picked up by one of several foreign-film distributors, and perhaps with a change-of-name to A Five-Star Life. I can understand going for a more mainstream, up-tempo title, but, really, I Travel Alone works quite well, as is. In any case, I'll have more to say, if and when the film opens up commercially. Meanwhile, check out the remaining Open Roads programs by clicking here.

Open Roads 2013: Daniele Cipri's IT WAS THE SON proves the must-see of this series

You can surely be forgiven for wondering,"What the hell kind of movie is this?!" as you're watching (and being a little befuddled by) IT WAS THE SON (E'stato il figlio) for the first time. TrustMovies will need a second viewing, he suspects, to fully appreciate this stunning film, which, at first, seems like some kind of comedy. Or maybe an entertaining philosophical treatise. Oh,wait -- it's a musical, with a great proletariat dance number, too! Nope: It's actually a three-generation family drama -- about storytelling.

Stylish and stylized, this amazing saga soon becomes (or has always been, but you're just now realizing it) an ice-cold satire of Italy and how it operates on every level, from family to government to Mafia to Church -- any one of which, as it turns out, could easily be mistaken for the other. By the finale, one of the finest in any movie from anywhere in recent memory, the film has become a unique horror story of the Italian family unit. The filmmaker, Daniele Cipri (shown at right), is here working for the first time without his usual partner of many years, Franco Maresco. I've only seen one of their collaborations, Toto Who Lived Twice, which I have to say left me cold, so I can only herald Cipri's solo debut as some-thing wonderfully special. If It Was the Son is any indication of what he can achieve all by himself, we're in for some marvels to come.

Throughout the entire film there is a lovely framing device, the full meaning of which we cannot understand until the very end. We wonder what this device means, but so oddly endearing is it, and so strange and delightful is the performer who inhabits it (Alfredo Castro, the bizarre Chilean actor who has so effectively creeped us out in Tony Manero and Post Mortem) that we simply buy into it and enjoy.

Signore Cipri has found an original style in which to mount his tale, and he has also cast it flawlessly. In addition to Señor Castro, he has one of Italy's finest actors in the father role: Toni Servillo, that shape-shifter seemingly without his own face. I did not even recognize Servillo until I saw his name in the end credits. The actor is wonderful, as (almost) always, playing the father as a figure of great fun -- until eventually you realize that he is beyond redemption.

The son of the title is essayed by a new young actor, Fabrizio Falco (above and below, left), who is already making waves, has won awards and can be seen in this film and in Dormant Beauty at this year's Open Roads series. This kids's got a gorgeous, expressive face, atop a long, lean, pliant body. Seeing him in these two, vastly different films presages quite a career ahead.

Cipri does not skimp on the women's roles, either. As the family's mother, Giselda Volodi (above, center, and below, left) provides some much-needed humanity, while Aurora Quattrocchi, as grandma (below, second from left), has a scene so strong and indelibly shocking at the film's finale for which an award -- any award -- would seem paltry. She'll make your blood run cold.

I and several of my compatriots left the press screening for this film seemingly in a state of shock, coupled to amazement and just a touch of the kind of grace that comes, not via religion, but from having seem a piece of real art.

It Was the Son, running 90 minutes, will screen three times during Open Roads at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center: this Friday, June 7, at 6pm and again at 6:30pm, and then Tuesday, June 11, at 4:30pm. Click here to view the entire Open Road series.

Open Roads 2013: Looking your best? Pappi Coriscato's THE FACE OF ANOTHER

Every year the Open Roads fest tends to bring us at least one mainstream comedy, often sporting a satiric bent. (Remember Whatsoeverly from 2011? If not, click above and scroll way down.) This year's entry is the face-lift-cum-excrement comedy THE FACE OF ANOTHER (Il volo di un'altra), and although shit does play a major part in the procee-dings, this is anything but a shitty movie. While it certainly could be sharper and more pointed, there is still plenty here to amuse, delight and cause a fright. The movie goes after Italy's and the western world's penchant for face- (and other) lifts, celebrity-sodden culture, and the need for fame at any cost.

The film's director and co-writer, Pappi Coriscato, shown above, is said to be a Neapolitan choreographer who once worked as an assistant to Pedro Almodóvar; I think you'll ferret out the connections pretty quickly. He and his co-writers have imagined a pseudo-elegant (but genuinely-expensive) spa/resort/surgery-center in the Italian Alps (below) where the moneyed go to get their wrinkles rearranged.

From the outset, as we eavesdrop on a group of maintenance men in the basement, where the inferior plumbing system is acting up again, we get a strong foreboding of what lies in store. (When it arrives, this poop apocalypse is something to see.)

Toilets, in fact, come into play throughout almost the entire film. One of them sets in motion the event that will require our anti-heroine (trust me, there are no heroes to be found in this movie!) to undergo some heavy-duty surgical stuff (above).

Our lady of the bandages is played by Laura Chiatti (above and further above, who can also be seen in this series' Piazza Fontana) as a popular television show hostess about to get the ax. Her hubby, who is doubles as head surgeon at the resort, is played by that super-handsome-and-just-slightly-sleazy-looking actor Alessandro Preziosi (of Loose Cannons), shown below. This couple is, as they say, made for each other.

Also on hand is a maintenance man harboring a notion of fame for his very bizarre singing act (whose performance, shown below, provides one of the funniest scenes in the film); a head nurse with a severe attitude problem; and countless odd patients, plastered up something fierce.

Once word of the TV hostess' "accident" and the surgery she'll need (the operation will be shown on TV, of course) gets out, the celebrity-prone hold a all-month vigil on the road to the resort, and the movie kicks into high (well, at least medium) gear.

There are some very funny scenes here, and the resort itself, with its Alps locations is plenty gorgeous. If we wish the movie were better -- tighter, funnier and more satiric -- we'll accept it as is for an evening of good, semi-solid, excremental fun (complete with some nifty dancing, below).

The Face of Another will play Saturday, June 8, at 6:15pm and Sunday, June 9, at 1:15pm. To view the entire Open Roads program, with showtimes, click here.

Open Roads 2013: Elisa Fuksas' visually ravishing and quietly exploratory NINA

If you're hoping to discover at this year's Open Roads a load/lode of pure visual joy (my idea of it, anyway), don't miss NINA, the stunning narrative film debut of writer/director Elisa Fuksas. In fact, TrustMovies was so taken with this enchanting piece of work that he wants to see it all over again -- and soon. In terms of color, composition, space, light, and architecture (word has it Ms Fuksas, shown below, is the daughter of two of Italy's leading architects and was herself a student of the profession before turning to film-making), it has been a good long while since he has see anything as visually lovely and original as this film.

Yeah, yeah: beautiful, pretty, blah-blah-blah. But what about the story? Well, it's there all right, slight as can be, and mostly hinging on character (three of them: Our heroine, Nina; a young man who is attracted to her; and the little boy who lives in or around her building and is attracted to her in a somewhat different way), but this works just fine for the piece at hand, which, in any case, runs only 78 minutes. So if you possess even one appreciative bone in your body regarding the visual arts, I advise you to line up and take a look. (One of the two performances is already sold out, but I think there may be tickets or stand-bys for the second showing.)

The title character -- a young woman (is she some sort of student?) played with an odd combination of "otherness" and composure by actress Diane Fleri (above and below, right) -- has taken a job dog-and-other-pets-sitting, in addition to her occasional voice teaching, and is also taking (rather than giving) lessons in calligraphy, while almost all of her compatriots and anyone/
everyone else in what looks like some sort of academic environment are off for summer vacation. So she is left, nearly alone, to do her jobs and consider... what? Her life. Her goals. Her desires.

Into that life comes a goof-ily appealing young man (Luca Marinelli, above, center, and below, right; and also seen at this year's Open Roads in Every Blessed Day) who clearly has the hots for her (and she most likely for him) and a young boy who lives in the area and wants something -- friendship, love, mothering? -- from our heroine. Whom she will honor and/or grace with her possible permanent good will is the only plot point that might need fulfilling, though all the people we meet (including the boy and the young man, the pet owners, her calligraphy instructor, her voice students) are fun to get to know the little bit that we do.

Nina herself is something of a cipher, and I think that's what the filmmaker wants. Ms Fleri is lovely to look at and certainly possible to identify with (though her character is a bit of a twit: you fear for the lives of the animals under her care) and that is really all we need. Otherwise, we can bask in the utterly gorgeous visuals -- and wish we were there.

What an eye does Ms Fuksas have for place, person and color, and how well do these combine in her compositions!

The photos above and below barely begin to give you a sense of the beauty on tap in this film. You really have to see it to appreciate it, and the big screen is probably the best place to do so. I saw it on a big screen at home, and certainly will watch it all over again.

Nina plays twice during Open Roads: Saturday, June 8, at 4pm and again Monday, June 10, at 6:30pm. You can view the entire series, with features and showtimes shown, by clicking here.