It can be difficult to distinguish between what I ‘like’ and what’s new to me, and as someone who’s more than open to changing my reviews and ratings as opinions do the same I’m more than open to giving this a four despite its few problems, my experience here was amazing and very deserving of that rating. I love the complete lack of direction you have for the narrative, with my current Harry Potter rewatch I’m very much in the zone of knowing what to expect in what I’m watching right now so this was a fantastic change of pace. The aimlessness of the narrative is also what hurts it just a bit for me, with no real evolutions in the character relationships beyond Sergio and Francesco it’s just tough to get too attached, I understand that’s also the point and is meant to create a sense of dread which I did also get, it just gives the maximum level of enjoyment and attachment a ceiling for me. I need to say though the script was fantastic despite those issues I had with the overall story, the narration and dialogue worked so well to bring out the themes while also giving a touch of comedy which is quite the intriguing yet successful pairing with this dreadful atmosphere. Those themes I mentioned are what I like about this the most and paired with the well-written dialogue make my other problems with the story mostly obsolete, the awkward relationship dynamics of a small town, the claustrophobia you feel being stuck in the small town you grew up in, and the friendship conflict themes, especially between Sergio and Francesco, were all effectively evoked through this story and I can’t help but appreciate it for that. Every time an ending hits the mark for me in an older film like this I’m almost shocked and automatically impressed, this one is nothing particularly special but it did the job well enough and I have to give it its flowers of that. I also have to give flowers tl Gianni Di Venzano’s cinematography before I wrap this up, genuinely some of the best black-and-white camera work I’ve ever seen, there are at least a half dozen shots in here I’m certain I’ll never forget, great work from him and from Lina on bringing her gorgeous vision to light here. I didn’t even mention the score from Ennio Morricone yet which should put into perspective how much there is to take in here, he delivered yet again in a genre and environment I’ve never seen him in, it’s always a great feeling to see one of your goats prove, yet again, why you see them that way. I’m glad my first Lina Wertmüller was her first feature effort, I didn’t even know and couldn’t tell it was her first before two seconds ago when I googled it, a surprisingly great impulse watch that I’ll surely revisit sometime down the line.
It can be difficult to distinguish between what I ‘like’ and what’s new to me, and as someone who’s more than open to changing my reviews and ratings as opinions do the same I’m more than open to giving this a four despite its few problems, my experience here was amazing and very deserving of that rating. I love the complete lack of direction you have for the narrative, with my current Harry Potter rewatch I’m very much in the zone of knowing what to expect in what I’m watching right now so this was a fantastic change of pace. The aimlessness of the narrative is also what hurts it just a bit for me, with no real evolutions in the character relationships beyond Sergio and Francesco it’s just tough to get too attached, I understand that’s also the point and is meant to create a sense of dread which I did also get, it just gives the maximum level of enjoyment and attachment a ceiling for me. I need to say though the script was fantastic despite those issues I had with the overall story, the narration and dialogue worked so well to bring out the themes while also giving a touch of comedy which is quite the intriguing yet successful pairing with this dreadful atmosphere. Those themes I mentioned are what I like about this the most and paired with the well-written dialogue make my other problems with the story mostly obsolete, the awkward relationship dynamics of a small town, the claustrophobia you feel being stuck in the small town you grew up in, and the friendship conflict themes, especially between Sergio and Francesco, were all effectively evoked through this story and I can’t help but appreciate it for that. Every time an ending hits the mark for me in an older film like this I’m almost shocked and automatically impressed, this one is nothing particularly special but it did the job well enough and I have to give it its flowers of that. I also have to give flowers tl Gianni Di Venzano’s cinematography before I wrap this up, genuinely some of the best black-and-white camera work I’ve ever seen, there are at least a half dozen shots in here I’m certain I’ll never forget, great work from him and from Lina on bringing her gorgeous vision to light here. I didn’t even mention the score from Ennio Morricone yet which should put into perspective how much there is to take in here, he delivered yet again in a genre and environment I’ve never seen him in, it’s always a great feeling to see one of your goats prove, yet again, why you see them that way. I’m glad my first Lina Wertmüller was her first feature effort, I didn’t even know and couldn’t tell it was her first before two seconds ago when I googled it, a surprisingly great impulse watch that I’ll surely revisit sometime down the line.
