Category: Italy

Rome, Open City [1945] ★★★½

August 4, 2017

Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini kicked off his so-called “war trilogy” with “Rome, Open City”, a harrowing look at Rome during the Nazi occupation of 1944. Though the events that take place in the movie are strictly fictional, Rossellini knows exactly how to deliver an authentic experience. The main character here is Don Pietro, an Italian priest who finds himself helping the leader of the resistance, Giorgio Manfredi, who is wanted by Nazis. Rossellini builds up tension as we follow these character’s journey into the unknown. The mood and atmosphere of the movie are reminiscent of American film noirs of the early 1940’s, and that’s probably one of the main reasons why I loved this movie so much. Rosselini does a fantastic job in capturing WWII Rome with a dreadful mood, keeping his audience on the edge of their seats from start to finish. If you want to watch a master at work, I highly recommend “Rome, Open City”.

The Best Offer [2013] ★★★

October 26, 2013

the-best-offer-posterArt, Mystery, obsession , betrayal. That’s “The Best Offer”, a Hitchcockian film that gets in your head and stays there. Geoffrey Rush, erasing all memories of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” series, delivers yet another memorable performance as Virgil Oldman, an art auctioneer who is well-known in the art world, so much in fact that his services are difficult to procure. One day, an elusive young girl named Claire (Sylvia Hoeks) calls upon him to oversee the auction of a vast collection she has inherited. And that’s where things get interesting. No fair revealing more. But if you can get past the confusing first 20 minutes or so, this mind-bender ought to prove two things: 1) Geoffrey Rush is still one heck of an actor and 2) Director Guiseppe Tornatore (“Cinema Paradiso”, “Malena”) never runs from a challenge. And it is a challenge to absorb the tone of this film at first and acquaint yourself with its “bizarre” characters. But once you do, “The Best Offer” has many twists in store. It’s easily one of the most unusual movies of the year. And I mean it as high praise.

Rating: 3/4

This Must Be The Place [2011]

April 11, 2012

Evaluating any movie is a matter of personal taste. Filmmakers who deal in the bizarre naturally provoke bizarre reactions. That’s my way of saying that I wasn’t impressed with “This Must Be The Place”, the latest movie from director Paolo Sorentino. This is not to say that the movie doesn’t have so many good attributes, because it does. Sean Penn, looking like a cross between The Cure’s Robert Smith and Edward Scissorhands delivers his most bizarre performance yet. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. He’s a Bored, retired rock star called Cheyenne, who is married to Irish fight fighter Jane (the great Frances McDormand) and lives a quiet life in Dublin.  When he receives a phone call that his Jewish father is ill, Cheyenne sets out to find his father’s executioner, an ex-Nazi war criminal who is a refugee in the US. Cheyenne is the kind of character you will either love or hate. There is no middle ground. But apart from Penn’s performance, I really don’t know what to make of this curious movie. If one is to judge a film by how well it fulfills its intentions, then “This Must be the Place” is a success. It stands out from the crowd by dint of sheer audaciousness, and originality. On an intellectual basis, I thought it was almost ridiculous; on an emotional level, I found it a complete turn off, at least when Penn wasn’t on-screen. As “This Must Be The Place” has all the makings of an unusual film, Sorentino’s fans will be particularly responsive to it. But as much as I admire Sean Penn’s enormous skills, the movie is too impersonal to leave a mark.

Rating: 2.5/4