Film Review: Digging Up The Marrow
I tend to review movies that are screening in some theatrical capacity, but want to occasionally talk about a movie that missed us theatrically and is on DVD and Blu Ray. This time it’s Digging Up The Marrow, a recent movie from Massachusetts-born filmmaker Adam Green, which features other locals as well.
The basic set-up is that independent filmmaker Adam Green is contacted by William Dekker (Ray Wise) who claims to have proof that monsters exist. We are brought along for Adam’s adventure in documentary filmmaking. Unfortunately, not all goes well when Adam and Will Barratt, his director of photography, come too close to the truth.
What many have accused of being a vanity project is actually a very well-crafted faux documentary with most people involved playing themselves as filmmakers. Digging Up The Marrow has been labeled by some as a found footage film, but I believe they are confused by the first person style of shooting as this film uses edits, multiple video formats and an arranged narrative structure that defy found footage by the very definition of the term. The story is a fun one and the creature design is certainly some of the most creative in years. Alex Pardee, whose art inspired the creatures, has an artistic vision unlike anything else. Using interviews with recognizable genre figures, as well as Adam Green and many of the people familiar from his projects acting as themselves the film, builds a comforting but strange atmosphere so that when certain situations get strange, it is a jolt to the viewer. Digging Up The Marrow is a daring and inventive movie that delivers what the audience wants while circumventing their expectations.
This movie is available on DVD and Blu Ray and can be purchased through any major online retailer or from the filmmakers themselves at Ariescope.com.
Digging Up The Marrow (2014), Dir: Adam Green, Starring: Ray Wise, Adam Green, Will Barratt SENE Celebrates its Seventh Year
Want a film screening, live music and art every night of the week? The SENE Film Music and Arts Festival seeks to provide just that. During the week of April 20th through the 25th, filmmakers and film enthusiasts will gather at the seventh annual festival.
Co-founders Phil Capobres and Don Farias are the nice guys of the film festival circuit; that might be why Cherry Arnold chose to have the world premiere of her new film Bluebirds Fly, Love and Hope on the Autism Spectrum at SENE. Cherry, who had a hit on her hands a few years ago with the doc Buddy, turned her lens from corrupt ex-mayors toward autism and how it affects the lives of several families.
“The hardest part of running a festival is saying no to filmmakers. We wish we could show them all,” said Capobres, co-founder and artistic director of the festival. Receiving thousands of submissions, the selections are brought down to 120 films, ranging from comedy, horror, sci-fi, animation and documentary. The nice guys of the festival circuit reach out across the world for films. They come from Kazakstan, Spain and Iran, as well as all across the country, but the festival has not turned its back on local film. There are 27 films from local filmmakers that include a zombie musical short featuring music by Providence musicians The Denver Boot, as well as horror of the most relatable kind. In The Creed, a woman finds herself unable to get rid of tickets to a concert from the titular band. Terrifying.
The festival also celebrates local artists who left home and made good, like the Giovanis brothers, who have brought their film Bereave back home to their native Rhode Island. The brothers, originally from Coventry, have been working in Hollywood for years and their new feature has received excellent reviews and accolades. The film stars Malcolm McDowell, Jane Seymour and Keith Carradine. McDowell is a suicidal husband who gets a new lease on life when his wife disappears.
What sets this festival apart is its focus on not just film, but all art and how it interacts with film. “We get a lot of films submitted about art and music,” said Capobres. Further highlighting the deep connection between film and music, there will be a film scoring panel on Saturday at noon at The Columbus Theatre. Mauro Colangelo, who has scored everything from Ferrari and Reebok commercials to feature films, will be there explaining the process along with Eric Barao, Dean Cascione and Rich Kelly.
The festival starts Monday at The Colombus Theatre with a program of feature films (see review of the festival opening film: Wildlike), horror shorts and a series of films commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Horror buffs should be sure to check out the film Tuck Me In, which delivers a potent shock in its incredibly tight one-minute running time. “I showed it to a co- worker who said after watching it she would not sleep that night,” said Capobres.
Tuesday kicks off the music with a performance by the Whiskey Treaty Roadshow and a screening of a film about the band followed by a program of music videos. The live performance will take place a the Brooklyn Coffee & Tea House, a favorite venue of local filmmakers. The owner of the Brooklyn, Tony Demmings, will receive an award at the Limelight party on Thursday night. Other award winners include Motif Publisher Mike Ryan and Jon & Betty Jane Berberian of the Columbus Theatre. The Limelight party held at the Warwick Art Museum features music and art by URI seniors as well as live music, food, beer and more. Friday the SENE fest travels around the world and back again with a series of international films followed by a screening of local shorts. The international feature Hunting the Phantom features Kristanna Lokken (of Bloodrayne fame) and Armand Assante in a science-fiction conspiracy thriller.
Saturday brings a day full of films including documentaries, short films, an LGBQT short series, animation and more. The animation screening includes films ranging from family-friendly to not-so- family-friendly fare. “We give families a warning before the R-rated animation starts,” assures Capobres.
The week culminates in a party with a live performance by New Jersey-based indie songwriter Zak Smith, 2013 Jersey Acoustic Music Award Winner for Best Vocalist.
The mission of SENE is bringing people together through film, music and art, and the festival has always succeeded in doing just that. You may come for the films, but you stay for the music, art or the community. SENE continues to grow every year with more and more submissions; however, the festival’s founders seek to grow while keeping their mission intact. According to Capobres, “We don’t want to get too big. We want the festival to feel intimate.”
The SENE Film Music and Arts Festival runs from Apr 20 – 25. For information on schedule and venues or to purchase all-access passes, go to senefest.com.
Wildlike: “Don’t Run, Got It.”
People embark into the wilderness to find out who they are and what they are, seeking to distance themselves from what they know and find familiar, often learning more than they either expected or wanted. People do not go into the wilderness to seek solitude, but to seek surroundings consistent with the loneliness they already feel. Sometimes this loneliness comes from death – of a father, a wife, or a brother – but because death touches everyone and is inescapable, survivors share a commonality of experience that paradoxically links them in their loneliness.
Wildlike follows a 14-year-old girl from Seattle cast adrift in Alaska by the adults in her life at an age when there should be someone to take care of her, old enough that she might be able to take care of herself if she knew just a little bit more than she does. Because this happens in Alaska, amidst breathtaking mountain vistas and limitless expanse, she finds herself on the run in Denali National Park where an experienced backpacker offers survival advice:
“Never approach a bear or a moose or whatever. Don’t approach them. If a bear charges you, then–“
“I know what I’m doing.”
“You have no idea. But whatever you do, don’t run. Do – not – run. Don’t run.”
“Don’t run, got it.” Bears both literal and metaphorical are not the only threat. The girl flies from Seattle to Juneau, which is surrounded by terrain so forbidding that roads cannot be built through it, making the city functionally an island because the only ways in and out are by air or sea. Yet no one is an island entire of itself, even in millions of acres of wilderness. Everyone here both needs to be taken care of and to take care of someone else, often in more ways than one.
The 14-year-old girl is “Mackenzie” presumably as a result of a faddish burst of popularity for the name around the time of her birth, and there is a hint that her mother might have been paying unconscious tribute to Spuds Mackenzie, the beer spokesdog. She is convincingly played by then-16 year-old Ella Purnell in her first lead role, whose previous credits include the younger version of Keira Knightley’s character in Never Let Me Go and the teenage version of the title character in Disney’s Maleficent. She is simultaneously impulsive and introspective, simultaneously fearless and fearful, as 14-year-old girls are when facing a series of traumas. She arrives in Alaska to stay with her uncle (Brian Geraghty), a situation that, in an extreme understatement, does not go well. Her guesses about who can and cannot be trusted are often wrong. The backpacker who meets her in a chance encounter (Bruce Greenwood) turns out to be as lost and as directionless as she is, only more experienced and better prepared. The film’s title is a double-pun: ‘wild-like” by definition is not wild and it alludes to “child-like,” which by definition is not a child, neither-here-nor-there straddling of boundaries.
This process of gradual emotional revelation proceeds among a small but steady supply of seekers, including a group traveling in a handmade airplane looking for wide open spaces in which to fly their handmade kites. Dialogue is crisp but sparse, as befits being immersed in wilderness. The cinematography is stunning, conveying a sense of the true romance of wilderness hiking, so well done that many viewers may be motivated to visit the beautiful terrain for themselves. Denali is hardly wasteland, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. This is not Walkabout. This film is neither a travelogue nor a “coming of age” genre exercise: it is a story about people who share similarly traumatic loss and grief, each working out for themselves how to shape their corner of the world afterward in ways that work uniquely for them, sometimes by connecting with and trusting each other.
Whether seekers in the wilderness find what they are looking for depends upon figuring out what that is, and sometimes they may need to find it first in order to realize it is the very thing sought. This is a strong film where many things, as in life, do not have neat solutions.
Widlike, written and directed by Frank Hall Green, at the Southeastern New England (SENE) Film Festival, Mon (4/20), 6pm, Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway, PVD. senefest.com/mon-film- screenings.html Contains non-explicit dramatic scenes and references that could be disturbing to some, including of child sexual molestation.
HxC: Salad Days Showcases DIY Punk As220 is holding a screening of the brand new DIY documentary Salad Days on April 10. The punk hardcore community holds Minor Threat, Fugazi, Bad Brains and many more in high regard and name them as influences in their music. Punk and DIY has always gone hand in hand, and these aforementioned bands put a stamp on what a group of people can accomplish without big record labels and managers. In the ’80s into the ’90s, punk and hardcore musicians booked their own shows, pressed their own vinyl and made statements without thought to the law or government. This documentary highlights the underground music scene in Washington DC that caused a whiplash of alternative music across the country.
Over the years there have been multiple documentaries trying to get across what exactly started this epidemic of hardcore and punk, but what makes Salad Days different is that the story is told by the scene’s originators. It includes interviews with Ian MacKaye, Henry Rollins, Dave Grohl, Alec MacKaye and many more. “Thirty years later, DC’s original DIY punk spirit serves as a reminder of the hopefulness of youth, the power of community and the strength of conviction,” says Scott Crawford, creator of Salad Days. Providence’s DIY community is alive and well and can be seen at venues across the city. AS220 prides itself on being a home for all artistic expression, making it the perfect place to view this influential documentary. Don’t miss out on this screening on April 10 at 8pm at the AS220 Main Stage.
April 4: As220 — Sete Star Sept, Lotus Fucker, Sadist, Clean
April 10: As220 (before Salad Days viewing) — Sweet Jesus, Big Mouth
April 11: Aurora Pvd — Inertia, Sunrot, 1 Local TBA
April 14: Deep Desert — Full Of Hell, The Body April 17: As220 — Weak Teeth, Violent Sons, New Strange, Public Policy
April 25: Firehouse 13 — The Casualties, Burning Streets, The Alley Saints, Honest John, Devils Twins
Film Review: It Follows
A young woman goes on a couple of dates with a young man only to find out that he has given her something that there were no high school film strips to warn her about. It Follows is the story of Jay (Maika Monroe) who is smitten with Hugh, but unfortunately he hasn’t told her that he is cursed and the only way to remedy this curse is to pass it on to someone else through sex. Once this curse has been passed to you the titular “it” can take any human form and will slowly but relentlessly follow you until it kills you. On top of that if you pass the curse on to someone and they are killed by “it” then “it” comes right back to you. Luckily as would happen in these types of films Jay has her sister Kelly and a group of friends to help her cope with and figure out a solution to her predicament.
It Follows is a cinematic breath of fresh air; while the premise isn’t wholly original, it certainly is a startlingly original vision that challenges the state of the modern horror film. Beautifully shot and composed of mostly long lingering shots, the aesthetic of It Follows seems to go against the shaky cam, fast cutting rut that the horror genre has fallen into. What starts off as visions of picturesque suburban slacker life soon deteriorates to dilapidated settings throughout Detroit as the film progresses and the main character’s grip on reality seemingly lessens. Along with the visual style, the film also has a score that harkens back to films past while combining elements of John Carpenter’s early ’80s synth style with avant garde elements of Ennio Morricone’s early ’70s giallo scores.
Competently written and wonderfully acted, while I have a few problems with some of the characters’ actions and motivations, overall It Follows is a film that I would highly recommend not only for horror fans but for fans of interesting quirky indie cinema in general. This film creeps up on you and leaves you wondering about every slow walking person you pass on the street. It Follows is currently screening at numerous cinemas in the area and works amazingly in the theatrical setting.
It Follows (2014); Dir: David Robert Mitchell; Starring: Maika Monroe, Lili Sepe, Keir Gilchrist
Film Review: She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry
The documentary She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry takes a thorough look at the American feminist movement from the mid-’60s through the early ’70s. The film concentrates on 1966 through 1971 and features in-depth interviews with numerous contributors and leaders of the movement in an effort to explore how the movement was started and what the struggle meant to its participants. From witches casting hexes to independent publishing, and from the political offices of Washington D.C. to the earliest women’s oriented self defense classes in Boston, She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry explains the points of view and goals of many different groups involved in the struggle and how it varied from viewpoints of race, class and sexual orientation.
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry fills in the gaps of an often incomplete story by concentrating on interview subjects whose names are not readily familiar to most of us but whose stories, ideas and actions were the basis of the modern feminist movement as we know it. This film is an important document in helping to explain and understand the roots of a movement that grew out of a stagnant societal view of women and a frustratingly close-minded counterculture that even dismissed the women in its organizations. Both majorly educational and very entertaining, this film comes highly recommended for anyone who is interested in political movements of the ’60s / ’70s or modern feminism in general. She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry opens at The Cable Car Cinema on Fri, March 27.
She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry (2014); Directed By: Mary Dore
David Gere – Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt
I heard about David James Gere shortly after I interviewed his partner in crime, Tommy DeNucci. These two frequently work together, and let’s just say they create waves in the movie world. And, um, he’s not too shabby in the art, wrestling and night life world.
I met Gere on the set of Blue Line, a story about a master thief who pulls off the heist of a lifetime with a jaded police detective hot on her trail. (Hell, yeah – women with firepower!) The film stars veteran actor Tom Sizemore and wrestling legend Kevin Nash. Gere is producing this film with Richard Switzer, the youngest producer in all of filmdom, recently featured on “Entertainment Tonight.” Gere also plays the role of Declan in Blue Line. In addition, he can be seen opposite Jamie Kennedy in Buddy Hutchins, a story about a regular guy pushed to the edge, (DVD and VOD) and Pinwheel, a horror flick to be released later this year.
Things weren’t always so rosy for Gere. As a young boy in his hometown of Cromwell, Conn, he arrived home one day to find that his mother and sister were tragically killed in a mysterious drowning accident. His father, James, an educator, later married Veronica Gere, who raised him. Gere acknowledges that this tragedy may account for his reflective artistry and intense performances.
He has a need to be on the move most of the time – he’s known as “The Man Who Never Sleeps,” after all. Gere attended college at PC, and excelled in athletics, but an injury forced him to rethink how he would spend his time. A film course, which he thought would be an easy ride, turned out to be the turning point in his life. At the insistence of one of his professors, he met with Peter Farrelly (yes, of the brothers Farrelly) and interned for the famous duo for some time. He worked on some big film sets, and gained and even bigger knowledge of the industry. He appeared in Outside Providence, a quirky indie film starring Alec Baldwin. After auditioning for and appearing in many indie films in New England, David’s break came through “Gossip Girl” where he played a character called Frank Meltzer.
Around this time, enter Tommy DeNucci. They knew each other but hadn’t partnered as they are now on many productions. They got together first on Infected, a creepy zombie movie where David had a small role. Tommy later called David and wanted him to act in the film he was writing and directing for Woodhaven Production Company, called Self Storage, starring Eric Roberts, Michael Berryman and others. David knew that he wanted to run with this up-and-comer; he had paid his dues, working for Woodhaven right out of New England Tech, and started at the very bottom of Chad Verdi’s company. Tommy later introduced Gere to Verdi and they’ve made many films since – Army of the Damned, Almost Mercy, and now, we fast forward to Blue Line, with Gere and DeNucci starring and producing the film. Oh, those bad boys. As Tommy puts it, “It’s interesting playing a villain. They’re always so sure of themselves. They have so much confidence; they truly believe that what they’re doing is right, which you don’t find in other characters the way you do with a bad guy.” No wonder these guys have so much fun!
Enter a new chapter in DG’s life – a partnership with the West Coast-based Switzer Entertainment Group, and a valuable connection for him and most of the New England film community. Why? Because these guys plan on bringing more films out to New England, with Blue Line being the first. “We could do two films a year in CT/RI area, and keep our people working. The possibilities are endless and very exciting,” he said. DG also does some producing for Synthetic Cinema, a production house based in Conn, responsible for such films as Dark Haul, Animal and the recently released Wishin and Hopin’.
All this, and we haven’t even touched upon the wrestling persona, his mixed media art, his lounge and nightclub business or his new movie projects. Now I understand why he’s called the “Man Who Never Sleeps.” DG is known for portraying the bad guy “DG Haven” at several pro wrestling organizations, including Revival Pro Wrestling, New England’s premier pro wrestling promotion. “It’s based in Chicopee, Mass. We do a lot of charity work for Special Olympians in Chicopee and the Boys & Girls Club there,” he says proudly.
When he’s not making a film or portraying the villainous DG Haven, he’s creating mixed media art, with abstract portraits being among some of his favorite types of work. You can see DG’s work soon in his upcoming show at his club, Electric Company in Hartford, Conn, which is a slick velvety lounge that attracts artists, writers, actors and celebs. Then you’ve got his nightclub in Meriden, Conn, the Reserve, where movies have been shot, among them Sensory Perception, a sci-fi thriller that he produced and appeared in. Talk about ambition!
DG recently celebrated his 40th birthday. He’s accomplished more in four decades than most people do in their entire lives. With all his projects in tow, he remains a staunch supporter of New England filmmaking, showing the industry that we got what it takes on this side of the Mississippi.
I look forward to seeing what’s coming next from DG. Whatever it is, it’ll shine brightly just like the star he is.
Follow DG on Twitter to keep up with his films, appearances, and art show: @DAVID_GERE
FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/david.gere.58?fref=ts (he may need several, he is a popular guy) Film Review: The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew documents the history of a group of Los Angeles- based studio musicians who were known in the recording industry by the titular nickname. This group was at the heart of the recording industry, playing the actual music on records by musical acts such as The Monkees, Sonny And Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Herb Alpert and even The Beach Boys (yes, Pet Sounds is actually these musicians playing with the Beach Boys doing the vocals!) The film follows a core group of The Wrecking Crew, which at times was as many as 30 artists, and interviews them about their history in the music industry and their memories of the artists they recorded with (or as.) Along with Wrecking Crew members such as Tommy Tedesco, Carol Kay and Glenn Campbell (who went on to have his own music career) we are treated to reminiscences from music industry luminaries such as Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Dick Clark, Micky Dolenz and Brian Wilson, just to name a few.
A comprehensive, educational and somewhat somber-at-times story, The Wrecking Crew is a fascinating film that gives a unique insight into the music industry of the ’60s. Director Denny Tedesco has a rare point of view into this story as the son of Wrecking Crew guitarist Tommy Tedesco, but doesn’t let the story of his father overwhelm the narrative and gives ample time to explore the stories of other members of the group who made major contributions to their recordings. Many of the members have great stories and happy memories, but there are also some less-than-positive stories about their treatment from producers or the fact that they never received credit for most of the music they recorded. I highly recommend this film for fans of music of the early ’60s, any of the artists involved, and film scores of the ’60s — The Wrecking Crew also recorded the tracks for some truly iconic film scores.
The Wrecking Crew plays at The Avon Cinema starting Fri, March 20. Now I have to go flip my Monkees LP over.
The Wrecking Crew; Directed By: Denny Tedesco; Starring: Tommy Tedesco, Brian Wilson, Dick Clark Amateurs: Binge-Watch Some Backstage Drama
“She looks alarmed, and it is the same disingenuousness that marked the bad acting of so many of Emily’s friends … when they pretended to be actors in their community theater dramas …” – Chris Bohjalian, The Night Strangers
“It’s very hard to insert nudity into an Ibsen play.” – Patrick (Kevin Broccoli), “Amateurs”
“No tongue unless you’re Equity – then, you do whatever the fuck you want.” – Tyler (Michael Puppi), “Amateurs”
Netflix bounced back from its seemingly forgotten debacle of a few years ago when it separated DVD delivery from streaming web content. Today, streaming is king and “binge watching” has entered our lexicon. Besides allowing us to relive entire seasons of “Cheers” or “Gilmore Girls” without having to splurge on a DVD box set, binge watching also gives us a quick fix for new content, released online all at once and removing the pesky inconvenience of actually having to wait for a new episode of our favorite series. “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black” became instant successes, partially based on their immediate availability. Is this symptomatic of our culture’s lack of ability to delay gratification or just an evolution of media in response to lifestyles that no longer center on waiting for broadcast television schedules? Probably both, but there is no denying the allure of settling in and absorbing the entire arc of a storyline without commercial interruption at a time and place of our choosing.
Episodic television and live theater have little in common, unless you’re sitting through the Ring Cycle or grabbing a rare outing of Shakespeare’s first tetralogy. However, the ubiquitous Kevin Broccoli has taken a stab at combining webisode binge watching and theater in his new online series “Amateurs.” Broccoli, who co-directed Epic Theatre’s Angels in America (another binge watching opportunity) last year and is well-known for his original scripts, decided to delve into filmed performance and capitalize on the public’s penchant for absorbing media content all at once with a new series about a fictional Rhode Island theater and its struggles to compete in a cutthroat scene of professional and semi- professional companies. All similarities to existing institutions and people are completely coincidental, he assures.
“Amateurs” was filmed quickly (a 10-day marathon, directed by Alex Watrous, utilizing every nook and cranny of the Artists’ Exchange’s space in Cranston) and sometimes it shows, with a few noisy microphones and shaky edits, but on the whole, it is quite surprising how polished the series comes across. Featuring Broccoli as Patrick, the artistic director of the Rabbit Tail Theater, the short series explores scenarios all too familiar to theater folk, but presented in an “Office”-style documentary format that allows for comfortable digestion by an audience who may have loved Waiting for Guffman, but isn’t all too concerned about actually attending plays. Broccoli blithely describes the show as “group kissing sessions, bad acting montages, lip synching and things happening on wig piles that we can’t talk about here,” but there is a recurring theme of artistic struggle with a subtle yearning for professional and personal acceptance that does indeed seem similar to “The Office’s” David Brent/Michael Scott character. And that is not a bad thing, for it works in favor of “Amateurs’” format and storyline, allowing for an ensemble of quirky and unique characters all played by mainstays of the Rhode Island community and semi-professional theater scene.
Michael Puppi (soon to appear as Richard III for Counter-Productions Theater in May) breaks away as a fast fan favorite among those who have watched the series so far (the series gathered over 1,500 views in its first week alone) as the ambiguously “chameleo-sexual” Tyler (“it allows me to date whoever is attracted to me”), but everyone in the series has a chance to shine. Paige Barry, Hanna Lum, Kerry Giorgi, Melanie Stone, Tammy Brown, Brendan Macera and Preston Lawhorne dominate the pilot, but several other familiar faces from RI theater appear in subsequent episodes.
“Amateurs” is, of course, aiming for laughs, and while the in-jokes are a bit of a Rorschach test for those who want to attribute actual theaters and individuals to the storyline, Broccoli insists that is not the case. All he wanted to do, he insists, is create a fun look at the inner life of a struggling theater and the inevitable real-life characters who inhabit this often surreal backstage world. There are no actual stage performances in “Amateurs,” although we do see some highly amusing auditions, but as anyone who does theater knows, the real drama is offstage. “Amateurs” achieves what it sets out to do and, for an experiment in a new media for Broccoli, it succeeds rather well. Catchphrases and quotes from the series are already making their way around social media — you’ll have to watch to find out what a “Polonius” entails – and, if successful, there may be a second season in the works.
Binge watch, or parse it into individual bite-sized chunks, but “Amateurs” is a breezy, fun and often clever look at theater and those who practice the craft. Theater is not for everyone, but “Amateurs” just may be.
“Amateurs,” a webseries written by Kevin Broccoli and Directed by Alex Watrous. Produced by Richard W Dionne, Jr and Alex Watrous.
Watch at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcX3QNdH2szsdfcl0im41zw and connect via Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/AmateurstheWebseries
Film Review: Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) To follow up my previous piece about the great films showing at Il Cinema Ritrovato next week, I am reviewing another film that will be shown during the festival: Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion, a fascinating, but somewhat forgotten thriller that won the best foreign film Oscar in 1971.
Investigation… concerns a police detective who kills his girlfriend and leaves plenty of evidence behind to prove that he is indeed “above suspicion.” Even after the initial crime he goes out of his way to implicate himself and exonerate other suspects while slowly mentally unraveling due to the stress of not being caught. All of this is set to a backdrop of leftist protestors and widespread government spying, which is legitimized by the conservative government’s fear of the liberal left.
Ultimately an expertly crafted satire, Investigation… is equal parts comedy, giallo and poliziotteschi, or for those who are unfamiliar with Italian cinema, comedy, murder mystery and investigation thriller. The writing is complex and intriguing while the acting is pitch perfect throughout, even though the tone of the film shifts from comedy to taught suspense. Fans of Italian cinema will certainly recognize two of the film’s stars Gian Maria Volonté (For A Few Dollars More, A Fistful Of Dollars) and Florinda Bolkan (A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin, Don’t Torture A Duckling). And while we’re on the subject of recognition, the score to this film was composed by none other than Ennio Moricone and is certainly one of the most memorable scores of his long and varied career.
Director Elio Petri is well regarded as a political filmmaker, and no matter what genre he is working in he crafts a film with leftist leanings and a political subtext. Investigation…, while an entertaining piece of popular cinema, is also a harsh satirical criticism of the perceived fascist police state of Italy at the time and of the ways in which the police treat everyday citizens and suspects while investigating a crime. While the film ends on an ambiguous note it seems safe to surmise that our protagonist will not be treated in the same manner that we saw other suspects being treated earlier in the film. So what else is there to say other than check this film out? It’s really worth taking advantage of this opportunity to see it on the big screen.
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion; Dir: Elio Petri; Starring: Gian Maria Volonté and Florinda Bolkan
This film will screen Thurs, March 19, 7pm, as part of the Il Cinema Ritrovato series at the Granoff Center For The Arts, 154 Angell St, Providence.