Cantando por Detrás das Cortinas

There's a laconic but amazing beauty in Olmi's last release. "Cantando dietro i paraventi" is a song for all the adventures that we didn't experiment, for all the landscapes we'd never see. It's his more "wellesian" work and one of the movies that impressed me the most in the last five years. I don't want to think what would Greenaway do with this material but probably a total failure. This film from a veteran like Olmi remembers us that weerasethakul and Sang-soo are the present, not the future. After a long career and still recent his brilliant "Ilo mestiere delle armi", Olmi returns to a place that he never thought: the land of the filmmakers compromised with themselves and the history. It's amazing doing this in a rickety cinematography like Italy's. Cheers, signore Olmi

In a liminal space that intersects dream, theater, nature document and fable, Olmi, with his uniquely wise and gentile narrative genius tells us about the nature of human faith, love, desire and how power is given and taken away. An important film for all children and everyone else, and a powerful reminder that violence is an option not a necessity. Understanding works better. This is a must see film, for its content and compelling visual and narrative style. Once again after the Mestiere delle Armi, Olmi, an absolute master, affirms that he is perhaps the most profoundly humanist film director working today.

Surely it is not a masterpiece but a very very impressive work.

First of all watching a far-eastern myth from the perspective of an Italian director is really exciting. Costume and production designs are very good. On the other hand cinematography is also brilliant. The most interesting part is that cinematography is not something we used to see in far-eastern movies. That increases the originality. Italian speaking characters are not artificial since all the dialogs and themes contain universal issues. Bud Spencer's performance is really good. But the biggest thing is, of course, Olmi's narration style. There were some parallel editing samples in the movie that should have been shown in film classes.

Bud Spencer out of role... some very nice images in a terrible, too theatrical experiment.

I have yet to be disappointed with Olmi's work and "Cantando dietro i paraventi" was no exception. It met all my expectations and more. It is a superbly executed film with all the hallmarks of Olmi's lyricism and beauty of composition. Each frame is a joy to behold and Olmi is a master at setting mood and tempo. From the stage to high seas the audience is taken on a memorable journey - a blend of the real and the performed which culminates in a beautiful and magical scene of kites soaring through and from the sky bearing their message of peace. Long may Olmi and his son continue to make films of such quality and visual delight.