Vajont - La diga del disonore

Finally a good film about the true story of Vajont: a very big landslide fell into an artificial lake causing an enormous wave (about 200 m tall) that went on the opposite side of the valley and over the dam, wiping out the underlying town of Longarone and causing more than 2'000 casualties in few minutes. The movie shows very well the intrigues cynically played by the construction enterprise to hide the dangers pointed out by geologists, about an ancient landfall line that the water of the lake made unstable. Well recited by the actors, the movie has good scenes, clever special effects, and a sweet love story within. It deserves to be seen; vote 8.

Director Renzo Martinelli mixes the usual disaster movie ingredients in Vajont with one ingredient you don't usually see. In Vajont, the movie shows the top engineers at the construction company who are responsible for building the then tallest dam in the world as practical people whose main concern is to finish the dam and get the Italian government to pay for the construction costs. The newlywed couple (the husband an engineer at the dam construction company), the reporter out to expose the flawed dam and the eventual disaster are the type of characters and situation you can find in plenty of movies about things going wrong. But when the top engineers realize they have a bad problem with landslides, they try to figure out what to do to protect the company's investment while avoiding a disaster. Since the incident at Vajont is well known in Italy, the ending of the movie is a foregone conclusion. Martinelli does a fine job of showing the dam builders trying to find a way out of the trap they are in, with the dam creating a lake against the Toc, the name the townspeople give to the crumbly mountain that borders the lake. The Italian DVD that had this movie also included an extra showing before and after, the step by step creation of the visual effects. A real interesting extra

Because it deals with real facts ,"Vajont" has almost nothing to do with the disaster movies which were thriving in the seventies.It does not feature the cardboard characters and the cast of thousands we used to find there.Outside Laura Morante ,all the actors give restrained performances .The film recreates the atmosphere of the tragedy of the drama in an almost documentary way.Only the young couple displays a storylike tendency,and even that is kept to a minimum level.

At its best ,the movie sometimes recalls the forties and fifties Italian neorealism.The color is actually close to black and white ,and two scenes are particularly memorable:the victims of the flooding,leaving their village ,while a crucifix Christ is floating on the waters;the surveyor,finding his rocking-chair in the mud.

This film is more entertaining than I expected. Nevertheless, the reason to see it is to see Daniel Auteuil perform. He is without doubt the finest actor in the world (not just France) during the last 25 or so years. Unfortunately, I don't think it was released in the u.s. I saw it in France. Many of his films are not being released in America or u.k. with subtitles. But if you get a chance, this film will entertain and you can watch yet another fine performance by Mr. Auteuil. Ironically, very few people from the U.S. even know his name. Also, fewer and fewer foreign films, especially French, are being released in America, not just Mr. Auteuil's. Sad. I speak French and understand Italian pretty well, but to deprive the world of many good films and many good actors and actresses is a shame. The French should stop whining about the influx of American films and start exporting their films to the USA. People usually are afraid of subtitles, but people do get used to them.

This movie shows in a very fine manner the corruption that is spread wide world in many fields. Renzo Martinelli made a movie plenty of secondary stories that enhace the main plot. All the characters are well displayed and specially Laura Morante in her character of the journalist Tina Merlin, also Anita Caprioli (Ancilla) and Jorge Perugorria (Olmo Montaner) are really in mood and give to they characters a very temperate resolution. I shall mention also Michel Serrault (Carlo Semenza), Antonio Fabbri (Prof. Ghetti), Federica Martinelli (Margherita) and in fact all who worked in this movie. You did it very well, really. The special effects are also a fine and dedicated work without exaggeration. The music well balanced and enhance the whole movie. Sound very good, and photography also fine. A very good work that deserve the acceptance of all kind of audience that like good, interesting, and well done movies. Finally I am going to watch it very carefully to see about the two goofs you mention.