Il bene mio

The Italian movie Il Bene Mio was shown in the U.S. with the title My Own Good (2018). It was co-written and directed by Pippo Mezzapesa.

Elia (portrayed by Sergio Rubini) is the only man left in his native village. After an earthquake destroyed this small hill village, the municipality moved into a new town in the valley. Everyone who survived the earthquake moved except Elia. He wanders through the village all day, visited occasionally by a woman who was a colleague of his deceased wife. A local tour bus brings tourists to the destroyed village, and he is the star attraction.

It's not as if he has nowhere to go. The mayor has offered him a fine apartment, and the woman offers to join forces with him. His former partner--the tour bus driver--wants to get back together in a partnership.

Elia simply won't leave. He frustrates everyone, including the viewer. He just won't leave.

There's a sub-plot about a young undocumented woman named Noor, played by Sonya Mellah. That plot fills out a movie that would otherwise just be everyone saying yes and Elia saying no.

However, the film really relies on Elia's story. If Elia were played by a mediocre actor, nothing would work. However, Sergio Rubini is a brilliant actor, and he makes the movie a success.

We saw this film as part of the ongoing Italian Film Festival at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. It will work well enough on the small screen. My Own Good has an adequate IMDb rating of 7.1. I think it's better than that. It's a quirky, unusual movie that's worth seeing.

Hats off to the director Pippo. It is a challenge to make a film on a lonely person in a devastated town and make it engaging and intriguing.

The best thing about any good film is that it works as a whole. It is very difficult to point out any component which is extraordinary. Every department in this film works in full tandem to make a great film. Everything in this film, writing, direction, casting, cinematography, editing, sound design, costume, production design etc. is just apt for the film. That's why the film has such a big impact.

It leaves us wondering about our very existence. Migration has been the backbone of our existence as human being. Man has been a migrant since stone age. Today when the world has become a global village, this film questions the very idea of leaving a place where you have lived your entire life. when we leave a place not only we leave its geography, we also leave behind the memories attached to it.

But at the same time, this film shows Noor, a migrant travelling from Syria to France. And the hero of the film who is not leaving his home despite it becoming a ruin helps her to reach France.

This irony makes the film so beautiful.