ZEROES AND ONES
US/Italy, 2022, 82 minutes, Colour.
Ethan Hawke, Cristina Chiriac, Phil Neilson.
Directed by Abel Ferrara.
The third of three films, following Tommaso and Siberia, both with Willem Dafoe, that writer-director Abel Ferrara made from his Italian base.
Popular comments, especially on the IMDb, do not offer any favourable reviews or assessments of this film (except one, who argues that it is a masterpiece, but one wonders whether this is tongue in cheek!). This review is not going to respond favourably either.
Quite a number of people indulge their comments with stating that the title of the film was really the star rating for the film itself (although the ones were exaggerated!).
The film opens with an on camera interview with the star, Ethan Hawke, praising the work of Abel Ferrara and his insights. At the end of the film, Ethan Hawke appears again, indicating that his initial words were a contribution to fundraising to make the film. He finally offers some comment about Ferrara’s perceptions about good and evil – but there are a lot of hesitations which does not make his commentary as convincing as all that.
Audiences are going to find the film and its plot difficult to follow – although, by the end, we realise that Ethan Hawke is playing an American in Rome, special squad, Covid times, the streets empty, but his tracking down some officials, some women, a mother and child, a prostitute, a cocaine dealer, not always welcomed by the locals because he is American, walking down side streets, empty, as well as near the Vatican and Saint Peters. He is also searching for his twin brother. There is warning of a terrorist attack on the Vatican. There are also scenes of explosions.
But, as the film progresses, it is not always easy to follow this narrative. One of the difficulties is that the action takes place at night, streets not well lit, nor interiors – and one reviewer making the sardonic comment that the director of photography must have been competing in a competition as to how much could be filmed with the least amount of light! Just so.
Ferrara has made many strange films but also many striking films supported by this reviewer, especially Bad Lieutenant and the International Catholic film office award in Venice, 1996, for The Funeral. But he has also made some films which seem self-indulgent, highly subjective, not readily communicating to the audience. And this film is one of those.
Here is something of a positive overview from the rogerebert website:
Ethan Hawke (Training Day) and director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) join forces for this gritty, tense political-thriller set on one deadly night in Rome. Called to the city to stop an imminent terrorist bombing, soldier J.J. (Hawke) desperately seeks news of his imprisoned rebel brother, Justin (also Hawke), who holds knowledge that could thwart the attack. Navigating the capital's darkened streets, J.J. races to a series of ominous encounters, hoping to keep the Vatican from being blown to bits.
