Passion of Love

I love Passione d’Amore and I still think it’s brilliant, but after reading the book, I feel that this strange tale really deserves another adaptation. Giorgio and Fosca, what an absurd story! And it gets more absurd with Fosca’s original backstory, the development of Clara’s character and the physical aspect (barrier?) of Giorgio’s feelings for Fosca. Tarchetti, the genius that you were.

I love Passione d’Amore and I still think it’s brilliant, but after reading the book, I feel that this strange tale really deserves another adaptation. Giorgio and Fosca, what an absurd story! And it gets more absurd with Fosca’s original backstory, the development of Clara’s character and the physical aspect (barrier?) of Giorgio’s feelings for Fosca. Tarchetti, the genius that you were.

There’s a kind of character that I always feel lucky to come across, characters who go beyond the mere archetypes we use to tell stories and are almost like real people in all their complexity. You could call them Shakespearean, he was pretty good at creating those, but these hidden gems can appear anywhere. And Fosca is for sure such a character. She is tragic, terrifying, pathetic, endearing, deeply flawed, deeply human… There are multitudes to her. I can’t wait to read the book and listen to the musical Passion to spend more time with this fascinating woman. The unrequited-love-due-to-physical-deformity narrative, as the last scene points out, usually has a man as the “ugly” lover, which makes Fosca even more interesting. As for the film itself, I appreciate how Passione di Amore unapologetically embraces the Romanticism of the story, there’s a nice background of Italy’s unification process, the performances are all on point and I loved every bit of it. I mean, “When I die for you, you will love me”? Oh, I’m so happy to have found this strange little movie.

There’s a kind of character that I always feel lucky to come across, characters who go beyond the mere archetypes we use to tell stories and are almost like real people in all their complexity. You could call them Shakespearean, he was pretty good at creating those, but these hidden gems can appear anywhere. And Fosca is for sure such a character. She is tragic, terrifying, pathetic, endearing, deeply flawed, deeply human… There are multitudes to her. I can’t wait to read the book and listen to the musical Passion to spend more time with this fascinating woman. The unrequited-love-due-to-physical-deformity narrative, as the last scene points out, usually has a man as the “ugly” lover, which makes Fosca even more interesting. As for the film itself, I appreciate how Passione di Amore unapologetically embraces the Romanticism of the story, there’s a nice background of Italy’s unification process, the performances are all on point and I loved every bit of it. I mean, “When I die for you, you will love me”? Oh, I’m so happy to have found this strange little movie.