Displaying items by tag: Thony

ORDINARY HAPPINESS/  MOMENTI DI TRASCURABILE FELICITA

Italy, 2019, 93 minutes, Colour.

Pif, Thony, Renato Carpentieri.

Directed by Daniele Lucchetti.

A lightheartedly serious look at the realities of life and death, very much Italian style. One can imagine the same story filmed in France with more personalised intensity, or from Scandinavia rather more cold and serious.

The film is a star vehicle for Italian writer and director who goes by the name of Pif.

The film establishes the central character, Paolo, living in Sicily, married with children. He is rather carefree in style and manner, confiding his life to the audience. Riding his bike, he has a trick of going through lights just as they are changing to red. However, here he experiences a crash and dies.

This is something of a Stairway to Heaven, but very much comic style, crowds and crowds of people waiting to get into heaven, busy clerks at desks. When Paolo is finally called, it emerges that there has been a mistake and he has to go back to earth for about an hour and a half or so. And he is accompanied by the benign old official who will keep an eye on Paolo as he revisits his family.

The rest of the film will depend on one’s suspension of disbelief, as well as one’s sense of humour. And would also depend on response to Paolo as he revisits his life. There is the hour and a half or so that he is allowed to live, going back to talk with his wife, making contact again with his teenage daughter and her offhandedness with him, some scenes with his young son.

However, there is a lot of revisiting his past, many scenes of his encounter with his wife, Afata, the initial meeting and courtship, the years passing, the family. And, there is the question of fidelity, and quite a collage of Paolo and his encounters with a range of women in his life. (Later, the official will remind Agara of one of her infidelity episodes.)

At one stage, the screenplay seems exceedingly macho, comments on the women from the male gaze, touch of the ogling, and a seeming blaming of women if they are attractive and the potential for trapping men.

However, as the film proceeds, there is a lot more focus on Paolo and his reliving the past with his family, explaining the situation to Agata about his death, a good sequence of bonding with his daughter, but also his going to clubs with his friends to watch soccer matches – and the official, knowing conclusions, advising the friends on making a bet.

The moment finally comes, the official gives up on Paolo and he is allowed to stay on earth and goes back to wife and family.

As mentioned, serious in its look at people reevaluating their lives – but, with Italian lightheartedness.