Grade:
B
OK,
wow. It's been over a month since my last post. At this rate, I'm
not really sure how I'm going to watch all of these movies before I die.
Unless I plan on living to be 150. Of course, by then, they'll probably
be able to inject the movie directly into my brain. Alright, on to lucky
number 13...
Remember
those analogies on your verbal SATs? A is to B as C is to D? Well,
here's one for you that may put this movie and its director into a little
perspective. Nanni Moretti is to Italy as Woody Allen is to
America. His movies are witty, the locations are as important to the plot
as the characters, and not everyone "gets him." And just as
Woody Allen's films are not widely accepted in Europe, Moretti has yet to find
his audience in America. Also, Moretti might not like this analogy,
because as far as I know, he never married his adopted daughter.
Caro
Diario is a semi-autobiographical film told
in three episodes (or "sections") of an open diary. The first
section is called "On My Vespa" and it's all about Moretti riding
around Italy on a Vespa, all the while giving you a running commentary on
things such as the charming old districts, ugly housing projects, his love for
Jennifer Beals (complete with a goofy fan encounter) and his disgust of the
cult film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer... which, btw, is also on
my list of movies to watch before I die. If I had known, I would have
made this a double-feature. "On My Vespa" is brought to a close
when Moretti makes a pilgrimage for the first time to the beachside town where
Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini was murdered.
In
"Islands," Moretti and his professor friend, Gerardo, tour the
volcanic islands north of Sicily, looking rather unsuccessfully for a quiet
place to work. They're thrown into bizarre situations that, for some
reason or another, require them to move to another island, whether it's noisy
traffic, friends who are too obsessed with their children or just obnoxious
islanders. I did enjoy seeing Gerardo's downward spiral from being a snob
who didn't even own a television set to being so obsessed with American
television that he forces Moretti to ask a group of American tourists what's
happening on The Bold and the Beautiful, since they see the episodes
ahead of Italy.
The
final section of the movie, "Doctors," deals with Moretti's chronic
itching and his search for an effective doctor. Even though the subject
matter is a little more serious in this section, he remains consistent with the
sweet tone of the entire film. It would have been easy for him to turn
this into a heavy-handed docudrama about his ailment that no one could seem to
diagnose. Instead, he simply shows himself being subjected to one
ineffective treatment after another -- ointments, massage, diet, herbs, electro-accupuncture
-- before a spot on his lung is finally diagnosed as Hodgkin's lymphoma.
The
movie starts off a little slow, but once I got used to Moretti's quirkiness, I
kind of enjoyed his company. But, like any houseguest, after a couple of
hours, you're ready for him to go home so you can watch The Real Housewives
of New Jersey finale in peace.
Why
you should watch Caro Diario: if you're planning a trip to Rome and/or you've
ever had to deal with ineffective doctors.
Why
you should skip it: if you don't like Woody Allen, you probably are not going
to like Nanni Moretti either.
Credits:
Italy
/ France (Banfilm, La Sept. Canal+, Rai Uno,
Sacher) 100m Technicolor
Language:
Italian / English / Mandarin
Director:
Nanni Moretti
Producer:
Nella Banfi, Angelo Barbagallo, Nanni Moretti
Screenplay:
Nanni Moretti
Photography:
Giuseppe Lanci
Music:
Nicola Piovani, Keith Jarrett, Angelique Kidjo
Cast:
Nanni Moretti, Giovana Bozzolo, Sebastiano Nardone, Antonio Petrocelli, Giulio
Base, Italo Spinelli, Carlo Mazzacurati, Jennifer Beals, Alexandre Rockwell,
Renato Carpentieri, Raffaella Lebboroni, Marco Paolini, Claudia Della Seta,
Lorenzo Alessandri, Antonio Neiwiller
Cannes
Film Festival: Nanni Moretti (director, Golden Palm
nomination)
