Amore e rabbia

Once interested in viewing a script outline or a detailed dialog box inspired by the short séance "DEL FIORE DI CARTA", you are kindly requested to refer to the Italian revue ANTEPRIMA, No 5, Sassoferatto , Ancona, Italy, published in January 1998, page 31, where I published the film scenario entitled "ISMAEL", with a prologue about Laura Betti's opinion Nicolas Xenios, ISMAEL, Omaggio a Pier Paolo Pazolini, Translated and adapted by Tea Boldrini. The story is about an archetypal three-membered family of the western cultural context , who walk and talk about death in their typical middle class apartment . In parallel, a Guillotine is being prepared in a medieval small town in front of the prison where the leading role, Ismael, is about to be condemned to death by the local judge. The crowd is invited to accomplish the procedure by gathering in front of the prison, where the execution will take place as soon as the flower Narcissus near his prison window will faint. The unexpected fact will be that the prisoner's daughter, after her long prayers to God, will decide to replace the real flower Narcissus near her father's window by a similar paper flower that will, naturally, never faint. The result is that FEAR of the eternity will replace the existentialists fear for DEATH and the prisoner's shadow will purchase him for ever and ever.

The text is published in Italian. You are welcomed to read and comment on it my Italian speaking friends. Bye thanks

How can a film with sets by Bertolucci, JLG and Pasolini, amongst others, be so incredibly bad? I have spent a lifetime watching thousands of films from across the globe, and this junk easily fits into the top 3 Worst Films of All Time category. Indifference has nothing new to add after the first 15 seconds; Bertolucci's Agonia is just embarrassing to watch; Pasolini's contribution is pointless; JLG's Amore is beyond pretentious (to be expected, perhaps) and, as I actually tried to follow the student debate on Marxism, capitalism and Vietnam etc., I soon realised that they were saying nothing whatsoever. Perhaps - just perhaps - the directors had basic ideas about each set, but the execution is appalling. Of the directors, Bertolucci easily wins the WTF Award and should have been sent to prison in El Salvador as a prize.

Who knows - perhaps this film is the reason Pasolini was shot?

I am shocked that a serious film company would let this content be released - surely someone actually looked at it before it was distributed? But if they did, how could they not demand a total re-make? I really had to struggle to finish this film - the only thing that kept me sitting there was the hope that the next segment would be better. Which clearly was not the case.

I want my money back.

These kinds of collective films that were released in the 60 and 70 are frequently quite inconsistent in quality with one or two good shorts and a few bad ones. Amore e rabbia is no exception to that. The first film is by Carlo Lizzani. It is well shot and mostly harmless. My only complaint is that the concept and how it is developed is painfully predictable and redundant, but other than that it is a decent film. The second one is by Bernardo Bertolucci. This one is offensively bad. I fail to understand how he got away with such an annoying, empty and borderline unbearable piece of film. Pasolini's film is quite a bit unexpressive which came as a surprise because Pasolini is usually quite good. Godard's one is my favorite amongst them, it is very beautiful and in line with what he was doing back then. The last one is by Bellochio. It is good but nothing that impressive. Overrall its not a good collection of films. For me however it was worth it for the Godard segment.

Comments have complained that this portmanteau film is dated. It would be better to say it registers a crucial political, cultural, and cinematic moment. Marco Bellocchio's short film works best to my thinking. His "Discutiamo, discutiamo" (Let's Talk; We're Talking; or maybe Talk and Talk, if you're inclined to be bored) is a dramatic imitation by students of the university movements of the late 1960s, and includes real differences of opinion (it starts with a lecture on Croce's aesthetics; later there's an attempt to set a Croce paperback on fire), and opinions worth remembering once existed. "La lotta continua" (class struggle), authoritarian schooling in ruling class values, the small percentage of youths of poor families in university--sure, that's so passé.

And for Bertolucci there's Julian Beck as Artaud; for Pasolini, dialectic around the pleasure of Ninetto Davoli. Even Godard's go-gauche, lordly treating every opinion as a quotation, letting all the wind out of what might be concern--or Amore. (See better Bellocchio's "La Cina è vicina" for a fashionable leftism.) The Rabbia or righteous wrath of the title is mostly also left to viewers back then or now, and maybe it didn't get rooted.

This film is an attempt by five different directors to present their take on the theme of "Love and Anger". Five well regarded film personalities were gathered to offer their views in a disjointed attempt to make sense of theme. Alas, what comes out on the screen is, at best, a boring display by some of these men, who have done much better work, to try to interest us with their mostly leftist views without convincing us. As DB Dumontiel commented in this pages, the more modern the five creators wanted to be, the more dated their contributions become.

Of the five segments shown, Carlo Lizzani's "L'indifferenza" is the only one that makes any sense. Filmed totally in New York, without an Italian dialog, it clearly illustrates one of the big problems in our society, and a phenomenon in our bigger cities where people totally ignore situations that claim for human intervention, as in the case of the selfish driver in this piece who tells the cops he doesn't want to get involved, and succeeds in doing so.

The Bertolucci vignette is a heavy critique on religion, as he directs the New York based theater group headed by Julian Beck and Judith Malina and members of their eclectic group performing a ritual as a church higher up is dying. The Passolini contribution shows a young actor, Ninetto Davoli, cavorting on Rome's Via Nazionale while over imposed pictures of legendary leftist icons like Che Guevara appear over the action in the film. The Godard piece, is pretentious, at best, and the last piece, by Marco Bellocchio, shows a university class as they discuss nothing.

This film might have appeared as revolutionary when it was released, but viewing it today, the only thing it elicits from the viewer is boredom and surprise in realizing that even great directors like the ones participating in this film can lay an egg without really trying.