Les opportunistes

In the closing moments of this intricate drama, "Human capital" is defined as an insurance industry term, referring to the way damages payouts are calculated upon death, partly dependent on the individual's "emotional bonds". But the phrase more broadly refers to the way that the productivity and creativity of people can be converted into economic value. These definitions tell us everything we need to know about the themes at hand in Paolo Virzì's deconstruction of the Italian upper middle.

Human Capital is Italy's entry for next year's Academy Awards, and it's not hard to see why. It's a handsome, solid, complex, character-driven drama with an already award-winning performance from Valeria Bruni Tedeschi at its centre. She plays Carla Bernaschi, the wife of a businessman on the cusp of ruin. She persuades him to buy her a crumbling theatre – a pet project – as a gift. But it quickly becomes apparent that the theatre isn't economically viable. It'll have to be converted into flats instead.

The film is full of such soul-crushing moments. One needn't look far for metaphors. The various subplots revolve around a car crash (The Crash), and the fallout which threatens to ruin those at the bottom of the social ladder, leaving those at the top untainted. One needn't, also, look far for comparisons: Paul Haggis's award-friendly Crash, and the work of Alejandro Iñárritu, in the way that chronologically concurrent stories are shown one after another.

But Virzì's film is less aggravatingly worthy than the work of Haggis and less laborious than Iñárritu's English-language work. Indeed, the first of four "chapters" plays out with wicked dry humour, as Dino Ossola (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) desperately claws at the deal of a lifetime in order to break into the business elite. He's trying to seduce that wretched husband of Carla's, Giovanni (Fabrizio Gigfuni), but he only recognises the capital, not the humanity. It leaves Carla bereft; searching for meaning and affection. Meanwhile, both the Ossolas and the Bernaschis are bound by their kids. Serena Ossola (Matilde Gioli, resembling a younger Eva Green) knows something about the car crash, and the cost of keeping or revealing the secret is where the real meaning of the film's title will become known.

Virzì's style starts out dead pretty; all fairy tale lighting and wintry wonderlands, mirroring the illusory worlds the wealthy (or would-be-wealthy) inhabit. But as the cost of these characters' decisions become known, the camera leaves the tripod and the style gets grittier. Virzì is clearly aware of the inherent humour and horror in seeing the same events from multiple perspectives. While comedy gives way to tragedy, the twists and turns don't feel manipulative, and ultimately this is a story imbued with hope. In part this is due to the villain of the piece – the apparently heartless Giovanni – never being reduced to a mere monster.

The structure does mean that at times the chronology of events becomes muddled. It's not always completely clear how much time is supposed to have passed between scenes, leading to some false impressions of certain relationships. And, inevitably for such a tightly woven story, narrative contrivance and convenience is never far away. But then, what does one expect from a morality play? And a thoroughly modern one at that. This is an intelligent, accessible film, wise to focus on the most interesting characters in the room: those on the margins; those with most to lose. A fine contender.

I went to see this movie mainly because it was shot in surroundings I know very well (the surroundings of Varese, in the north of Italy)and was more curious than interested. In the end, I had to say I saw a good movie, with a good photography but also a convincing story, based on an American novel, but fit for a movie which lies between a thriller and a social portrait, showing some evils of contemporary Italy. The splitting of the story into four chapters, seen from the point of view of three characters, plus a final chapter, may not be that original but works effectively and keeps the viewer's attention alive for almost two hours. So, considering the mediocrity of Italian contemporary cinematography, it is a good product and I also appreciated the performances of the whole cast, with Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Fabrizio Gifuni at their best. In my country the movie was criticized for pointing the finger at the north of Italy as the source of contemporary decadence: on the whole, besides its ideological orientation, I found it more entertaining than socially committed or politically sided.

"Human Capital" (2013 release from Italy; 110 min.) brings the story of two families, whose fates are so different yet intertwined. As the movie opens, we see a staff person bike home late at night after having worked at a big event of some sort. We also see a speeding SUV and the SUV appears to accidentally hit the biker, but doesn't stop. Whoa! Who was that? What just happened? After the opening credits, we are told we are "Six Months Earlier - Chapter 1 - Dino" and we get to know a number of characters: there is Dino, the real estate guy whose daughter Serena is dating Massimiliano, the son of a hedge-fund manager. Dino convinces the latter to let him buy in, but soon regrets doing so when the market tanks. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first, this is the big screen version of American author Stephen Amidon's acclaimed 2005 novel of the same name. How often do you see a big screen adaptation of an American novel that is made abroad, rather than in the US? Director Paolo Virzi transposes the story from Connecticut to Northern Italy very nicely, and along the way adds other elements to make this his own story. Second, the movie works on different levels: there is the immediate question as to what exactly happened at that hit-and-run late night accident (?). Then there is the social commentary about today's society and the influence of money on people (keep in mind: this is Italy, where they have been going through a Great Recession for YEARS now). The movie is split into 4 chapters, and we rehash more or less the same events from different people's perspectives (Dino, Carla, Serena). It's a technique that has been used before, but when executed well, as in this movie, it elevates the movie, as you discover new details in each new perspective of the same events. Last but not least, the movie features a great ensemble cast (there are about 7 or 8 key characters to keep track of). Bottom line: this is a movie that caught my attention from start to finish.

This movie is the May, 2015 release of Film Movement's on-going DVD Of the Month club. No idea why a 2013 release only now gets exposed to US audiences but better late than never I suppose. As always, the Film Movement DVD comes with a number of bonus materials, including an okay "making of", but far better is the bonus shortie. This time we get "Job Interview", an excellent 9 min. shortie from Germany about a woman (Lisa) being interviewed by another woman for a job. Just watch! Meanwhile, "Human Capital" is a worthwhile addition to Film Movement's ever-growing library of foreign and indie movies. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

After working at a private school party in a small town in Italy on the Christmas Eve, the waiter Fabrizio (Gianluca Di Lauro) is riding his bicycle home. Out of the blue, the driver of a SUV hit-and-run the waiter and leaves him seriously injured on the road. The ambitious real estate agent Dino Ossola (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) drives his daughter Serena (Matilde Gioli) to the manor of her boyfriend Massimiliano Bernaschi (Guglielmo Pinelli). He snoops around and befriends his wealthy father Giovanni Bernaschi (Fabrizio Gifuni) expecting to get along with him and invest in his investment fund. Dino lies and hires a secured loan of 700 thousand Euros from Giampi (Gigio Alberti) to invest in Bernaschi's speculative fund expecting to have 40% a year in return, and disregards the risks involved. His guarantee is Sarana's house, where he lives with his second wife, the psychologist Roberta (Valeria Golino) that is pregnant, and Serena. Meanwhile, Giovanni's wife Carla Bernaschi (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) sees an old theater that will be demolished and convinces her husband to buy the building and restore the theater. She invites her former theater Professor Donato Russomanno (Luigi Lo Cascio), who has a crush on her, to be the art director and gets closer to him. Things go awry when Bernaschi's fund flops and loses 90% of its value and the cyclist dies at the hospital. The police inspector finds that Massimiliano's SUV was responsible for the hit-and-run. But who was driving the car? The alcoholic Massimiliano? His girlfriend Serena? Or someone else?

"Il capitale umano" (2013) is a great film by Paolo Virzì with the mystery of who hit-and-run the waiter Fabrizio? The screenplay, divided in four chapters (Dino, Carla, Serena and Human Capital is very well written, with a perfect and concise development. The performances of unknown actors and actresses (Valeria Golino is the exception) are outstanding. The scum Dino Ossola is the representation of the worst in the mankind, a garbage as human being. The mystery of who killed Fabrizio is disclosed in the end. The ironic value of a human life closes this film with golden key. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Capital Humana" ("Human Capital")

The Human Capital is a different and strange thriller by Paolo Virzì. Characters are introduced in a new world characterized by unsustainable pressure of life, in which the characters alternate between what they are and what they would be. The general framework of daily life is lost sight of when it happens a fact that upsets all the characters, which will be connected by a thin line of conjunction. The main event is unfortunately not strong enough to define all the subject of the film. The film with his conclusion leave the viewer with a feeling of lightness failing to make the film the masterpiece that everyone says. I appreciate the kind of change faced by Virzi, he has created a film based on the thriller by leaving the style of comedy that so far he had faced.