Palombella rossa

This is a very weird movie, one that feels so specific that it really is risky to recommend it to anyone. It is quite surrealist and random at times, but remains consistent in being hilarious. And perhaps the random nature of the movie is trying to convey the condition of the main character, who feels lost as much as his political party.

There are many references to the Italian culture, ranging from politics to music, cinema and sport. Some scenes ascended to a cult status, such as the famous slap. Overall an entertaining movie, thanks to the eccentric characters that populate the pool where the (inner) action takes place.

If you are Italian and old enough to have lived there in the 70s/80s, then you will probably get the point of this movie: Moretti's conflictual relationship with the (then) Italian Communist Party. But that doesn't change the fact that the film is weird and delirious.

If your clique is the intellectual/radical/snobbish kind, you'll have to say that the movie is superb.

If none of the above applies, then pick another film.

Michele is the leader of the Italian communist party and a professional water polo player. On this day he has just lost his memory following a (very stupid) car accident. So he has to discover the intricacies of his life again, and he does so through the naive eyes of the anxious child he used to be - through an improvised psychoanalytic trip symbolized by the friendships and adversities of a water polo game.

While she may not be the star, I appreciate that Asia Argento had a part here. I always felt like she was not really in much beyond her father's films or the films of her father's friends, at least at first. But this is a clear exception, because there is nothing about this movie that says Dario Argento was involved.

1989: Berlin wall is down. communist dictators in the past. for all the people that lived this age a new freedom, but for those who were in the west, it's the falling of hope. unless everybody knew that real socialism was a bad solution, it represented the chance to create, or just imagine, something different from capitalism. now the wall is down, what does it mean to be left-wing? if you've been a communist all of your life, what's your new position in society. Moretti here represents perfectly this situation: Italian communist party, is almost lost, a great discussion inside: what are we doing, where do we come from, and (most important) where do we go now? are we different, are we the same of the rest? can we find back the will to fight?

I consider Red Lob one of the best Italian movies of all times. It's surreal, moving, thought-provoking and incredibly funny. I wonder what a non-Italian audience may make of it, since it's steeped in references of the Italian political environment of the 70s/80s but I hope such audience can enjoy in the same way, I, for example, can love an Aki Kaurismaki movie despite it coming from a culture whose finer points I ignore.

It's a film of my adolescence and nowadays it looks, feels and sounds quaint and almost naive -- but also courageous. Which Italian director would risk today to make a two-hours dream-like, heavily metaphorical political movie? And whose director would manage to make something so hilarious out of it?

I wish I could share at length how much Red Lob influenced me and my whole generation. Some scenes, like the one where Michele slaps the journalist in the face because she is using clichéd expressions, or the one where he tries to explain to a Catholic politician why they are different, are still quoted today and are part of our cultural baggage.

If you've never seen a Moretti movie, maybe start by something more conventional like The Mass is Ended but please don't pass by Red Lob, because it's a real treat.