Xixax Film Forum

I decided to put this solely on its own, rather than have a Rosi director thread or a Everything Else Cinema thing, I guess because I doubt many (if any) have seen this on anything other than the new dvd.

Anyway, whadda great flick. I watched it a few weeks ago and I was trying to think of what I'd post about it, and I came up with "well, if you thought Z or JFK were interesting, you'll like this"... and then I read a review that pretty much said exactly that, so...

I really don't have anything too deep to say about it other than its charm really lies in the unfolding of a rather complex narrative, but the joy is in the fact that it really becomes MORE muddled as it goes (like life, you could say, or even for that matter "truth"). If I had to pick one thing that is a standout, it's Gianni Di Venanzo's cinematography. Every single fucking movie I have ever seen this guy dp, regardless of the quality of everything else, blows me away. There's something about his black and white photography (not to take anything away from Juliet of the Spirits, which looked great), and his framing. Basically, this guy shot everything that was decent from mid 50's - early 60's Italian film. Maybe not everything, but it sure seems like it. And he's well represented here, cos Criterion got SUCH A NICE LOOKING PICTURE. Sound is a little muddy, but what the hell, it's old...

So I know a few of us were eagerly awaiting this disc. Who got it? Who's watched it? Any thoughts?

I got it, I watched it, I agree with your thoughts. It was very good. It was very fractured, and the style was pleasurably misleading; it was presented very "just the facts," and then those facts were undermined and refracted until you just didn't know what was what. But great fun to go through those subversions.