Open Roads. Dispatch 2.

What do Americans hope for from a good Italian film? Something visually striking, I think (gosh, but we love the Tuscan countryside, although we'll accept other interesting locales, too), as well as something in a narrative that opens a fresh perspective into the lives of Italians today. When I think of many of my favorite Italian movies - from Rossellini's Open City to an unheralded little gem like Verso Nord (Without Conscience is its US title, and, yes, I am recommending that you check it out on DVD) - I realize that these films couple strong passion (for many different things) with reality and beauty. And they strike at the heart without insulting the brain. Of this year's Open Roads array I've seen thus far (10 out of 13 films), the one that had this effect on me most is One Out of Two [site], directed and co-written (with Francesco Cenni) by Eugenio Cappuccio and making its Open Roads debut today.

As I age, I grow more tired of movies with obvious heroes and villains. Just give me people, I ask; if possible, let me watch them grow and change. Mr Cappuccio has done this, and well. His leading character, Lorenzo, is quite the go-getter: fast, frisky and just a little dishonest. But he's so clever and likeable that you'll follow him - as do his girlfriend and co-worker - most anywhere. But then something happens.

Speaking of fabulous visuals, the director and his cinematographer have staged this "something" spectacularly well. (Open Roads has chosen an image from One Out of Two as its poster child, and rightly so.) From this "something" onwards, the movie becomes a journey on which we and its characters meet new characters. One of the film's strengths is that it resists giving in to the sentimentality that, in a story such as this, must hover near, hoping for an opportunity to strike. Cappuccio maintains a firm hold except perhaps at the climax. I would have preferred the film to end in the office of a certain professional before a bit of news is delivered. At this particular point, perfection is nearly achieved, and for me, what follows is lovely but somehow unnecessary. (I am really going out of my way to not to spoil anything here. The audience for a film this good deserves the surprises, twists and energy that the moviemaker delivers.)

In his Open Roads round-up, the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Richard Peña points to One Out of Two as a film that offers a sense of spirituality. I certainly agree; Lorenzo's journey touches on family history and class, as well as physiological changes. Cappuccio has assembled a first-rate cast, including Fabio Volo (Casomai) in the lead, Anita Caprioli (Santa Maradona) as his significant other, Giuseppi Battiston (Don't Tell) as his best friend, and a memorable performance from Ninetto Davoli as the most important member in our hero's new life. (Davoli is a Pasolini graduate: remember the kid in The Hawks and the Sparrows, The Decameron and many more?) While I would like to see all the films in Open Roads graced with an American release, that One Out of Two has as yet no distributor seems particularly sad.

Giuseppe Tornatore's The Unknown Woman was not screened prior to its debut on Thursday, so I'll cover it later and devote the remainder of this column to the program of New Italian Shorts, screening first on Friday afternoon. It's a revealing showcase for a pleasant and diverse array of talent - from whom we will probably hear more in the years to come. First in the group of eight is Like Cassano (written by Antonella Gaeta and directed by Pippo Mezzapesa), a so-so, 14-minute, boy's soccer fantasy, nicely photographed, that shows us (from what I was able to gather, at least) how Italian sports stars are groomed and coddled from a young age.

The 9-minute Solo Duets by Josef Feltus is one of the two animated shorts in the program. In what looks a like a kind of "wood-mation," or maybe "cloth-mation," Feltus brings an eerie light and shadow elegance to his theme of the doppelgänger. This one is strangely compelling.

Do You See Me? (14 minutes), perhaps the most original and interesting piece on the program, is billed as "something by Alessandro Abbate and Alessandro de Cristofaro" and begins with amoeba, protozoa and cells moving and dividing, and then leads into creation, art, Galatea, obsession, and finally an entire alternate universe.

Islam is front and center in the 16-minute Zakaria, by Gianlucca and Massimiliano de Serio, in which we learn how to wash our feet, pray and tackle other rites; a sort of do-it-yourself, how-to-be-a-good-Muslim kit. There is beauty in the sounds of the prayers, yes, but it all reminded me a bit too much of my own Christian Science upbringing, which I found - and still find - generally fundamentalist and nuts.

Unfortunately, the one-minute La Ferita, came uncredited and unsubtitled on the screener. Was it actually a TV commercial so creative that it made the cut? I guess I'll never know. Also unfortunately lacking subtitles on this screener was Sophie Chiarello's 15-minute Un Filo Intorno al Mondo, one of the most beautifully filmed of this series, which appeared to be about a letter delivered and then read by a postman to the illiterate father and son who live on his route. Since the contents of the missive were lost on me, so was the meaning of the film itself.

The longest "short" is the 17-minute Incurable Love by Giovanni Covini, in which a paralyzed patient communicates with his caretaker via a board on which each letter/symbol has a meaning. After a few minutes of this, I began to better understand why the Javier Bardem character from The Sea Inside wanted to end it all - though by the close, I could also see how a deep and caring relationship might form here.

The final piece - A Dog's Memory by Simone Massi - was hand-drawn animation in black and white with but one touch of color. The strangest of all the shorts, and the most disturbing, the film combines animation with the sounds of scratching, thunder, music and gunshots. Paging a Dr Freud for canines!

Posted by dwhudson at June 7, 2007 5:19 AM