A Biblical parable—a film of two halves that reminded me of the work of Ermanno Olmi, Bertolucci, Walt Disney, Bresson, Being There and Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Shot on 16mm
Rural first half—grounded in neo-realism with hardships, unprofessional extras and real babies crying. This could be the Olmi film—there’s the peasants vs the patrons which could be Bertolucci’s 1900
Lazzaro (not an accidental name with the surprise death and resurrection) is a simpleton, a saint, he has a uniform, he’s genuine—reminded me of Bresson’s Donkey in Au Hasard Balthazar or Bess in Breaking the Waves in ways
The Marquis as pure evil drops this into fantasy as sort of a transition for the big break—it’s also where the Disney element comes it—wicked sister, evil matriarch
Some fantastic shots with architecture like character like Ozu, Antonioni
The first half has the dry rural landscapes—transition of the wolf myth and death at the halfway point recall Weerasethakul’s work—specifically Syndromes and a Century and Blissfully Yours with the ugly urban vs rural/wild dichotomy- Syndromes specifically breaks half way just like this but this film is not on that level
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