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DOCUMENTARY SOUTH OF THE BORDER (15) 77min ●●●●● TAKE 5
HISTORICAL MELODRAMA BAARÌA (15) 150min ●●●●●
Whereas Fellini had his hometown of Rimini from which to draw inspiration in the likes of Amarcord and I Vitelloni, Sicilian filmmaker Guiseppe (Cinema Paradiso) Tornatore has his birthplace of Baaria, near Palermo. This is the setting for this epic historical melodrama, which spans some five decades of twentieth-century Sicilian history, by focussing on three generations of the working-class Torrenuova clan.
The opening is pure Tornatore. To the accompaniment of Ennio
Morricone’s overpowering orchestral score, a cute young kid in shorts tears down a busy, sun-drenched street on an errand for a local gambler. Suddenly the camera soars and he is flying through the air, as we are whisked back in time to the 1930s. Here we meet the film’s central character, the shepherd’s son Peppino, who grows up in the era of Mussolini’s blackshirts. Following the Allied liberation of Sicily in 1943, Peppino (played as an adult by Francesco Scianna) becomes a staunch advocate of workers’ rights and active figure in the Communist Party. He marries the beautiful Mannina (Margareth Madè) against her parents’ wishes, and they have a family, but he’s forced to travel abroad for labouring work, and by the late 60s he’s regarded politically by a younger generation in Baarìa as an obstacle to radical reform. In this lavish production, which has been praised by Silvio Berlusconi,
Tornatore orchestrates a series of spectacular set pieces: a bombing raid during World War Two, a clash in the fields between rural workers and armed landowners, the looting of the town hall. Yet over the extensive running time, this breathless and sentimental approach to storytelling has serious drawbacks. Historical references are thrown in to the mix without being properly explained, abruptly edited individual scenes unfold at a noisily frenetic tempo, and most of the characters remain underwritten: even Mannina herself is denied much in the way of an inner life. (Tom Dawson) ■ GFT, Glasgow & Filmhouse Edinburgh, Fri 23 Jul.
When Oliver Stone made a documentary for HBO about Fidel Castro, his American paymasters accused him of going too soft on the Cuban President and ordered him to go and try again. This time Stone stands firm, doesn’t even entertain the idea that he is being too soft on his new subject Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and spends as much time as possible belittling the American media (including using supporting footage of polemicist Michael Moore) as he does examining why the Venezuelan President has replaced the now retired Castro as socialist enemy number one. Stone posits that Chávez is the cog
that started a political wheel proving that socialism rather than capitalism is the way forward when it comes to improving standards of living. With remarkable fleet of foot, Stone ventures through seven countries including Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil that he feels have benefited from forming a united socialist front. By highlighting that most western media do not support the view he’s espousing, Stone cleverly forms a ready-made excuse as to why his documentary concentrates on positive messages from these countries. As such, Stone achieves his goal of challenging the orthodoxy on Chávez and socialism in an engrossing and entertaining manner. (Kaleem Aftab) ■ Filmhouse, Edinburgh and selected release, Fri 30 Jul.
DARK COMEDY CITY ISLAND (12A) 103min ●●●●●
Everyone has their secrets in the Italian-American Rizzo family, who live in the titular seaside community on the outskirts of New York. Dad Vince (Andy Garcia) is a corrections officer, who yearns to be the next Brando and secretly takes acting classes. Daughter Vivian (Dominik Garcia-Lorido) is stripping to pay for her college fees. Teenage son Vince Jnr (Ezra Miller) has an online fetish for feeding extra-large women. And when Vince brings home a young probationer (Steven Strait), mother Joyce takes a shine to the newcomer, oblivious to a family secret. Written and directed by Raymond De Felitta, indie comedy City Island is very much in the mould of Little Miss Sunshine – there’s even room for Alan Arkin, here playing a curmudgeonly drama teacher. The plot follows a familiar path: deceptions and misunderstandings pile up and competing views are noisily exchanged, before a melodramatic climax in which the familial problems are resolved. Yet there are plenty of amusing moments en route, and De Felitta displays a welcome warmth towards all his characters, whilst in an impressive cast Emily Mortimer excels as Vince’s ethereal fellow student and confidante. (Tom Dawson) ■ Selected release, Fri 23 Jul. See profile, listings.
GREAT SERGE GAINSBOURG FILM SOUNDTRACKS L’eau à la bouche Gainsbourg’s first work as a composer for cinema was on this minor new wave romantic comedy of familial dysfunction, contested wills and lecherous intent. Gainsbourg’s languorous, yet risqué score, which includes the title track, set the bar high for the nihilistic Gainsbourg. The resultant EP album was released by Phillips on vinyl, but is currently available only in compilations. Les Loups dans la bergerie (The Wolves in the Sheepfold) Before Michael Haneke and Bruno Dumont, mainland Europeans were making weird-ass psycho-horrors every bit as disturbing, the trouble is they were usually banned from showing anywhere but France. Herve Bromberger’s 1960 road thriller, which throws handicapped children, a car crash, bandits and child hierarchies into the mix, featured an equally perverse soundtrack by Gainsbourg that was again released by Phillips on vinyl and has not been reissued since. Strip-Tease Life in a strip-tease club in early 1960s Paris starring Teutonic beauty Nico and friends in various stages of undress. The soundtrack, composed and written by Gainsbourg, is a complete gem and includes chanteuse Juliette Gréco singing the title track, which was released on 7”. Gainsbourg makes an appearance in the film as a club pianist. Manon 70 1968 version of 18th century novel and 19th century Italian opera about an amoral free spirit woman who uses sex to her advantage. Gainsbourg’s jaunty score is all too clearly powered by his then obsession with leading lady Catherine Deneuve. Élisa Gainsbourg had been dead almost four years when Jean Becker’s 1995 portrait of teenage criminality starring Vanessa Paradis came out but he still won his one and only Cesar (French Oscar), posthumously, for the work he did on the soundtrack with composers Zbigniew Preisner and Michel Colombier before he died. (Paul Dale) ■ Gainsbourg is on selected release, Fri 30 Jul. 22 Jul–5 Aug 2010 THE LIST 45