Month: April 2014

L’UOMO IN PIU ‘One Man Up’ (2001)

Paolo Sorrentino’s self assured debut is ‘master in the making’ look at life in the 80’s for two celebrities who share a name.

Toni Servillo is Antonio Pisapia, a singer at the height of his fame and Andrea Renzi is also an Antonio Pisapia, a football star also at the top of his game, the film charts their parallel journeys and gives us an insight into the superficial and ultimately dangerous side of fame.

Sorrentino flourishes his film with beautiful cinematography and allows music to be a major player in his stories. This elevates him from many first timers; his artistic eye and flair for dialogue and story-telling several notches above most.

This was Toni Servillo’s sixth film (according to IMDB) and he was already an award winning theatrical actor of great merit and he went on to work with Sorrentino several times after their first cinematic pairing to great acclaim. I have yet to see Il Divo but am greatly looking forward to it having only recently seen The Consequences of Love and La Grande Bellezza and adored them both.

Servillo has that Bill Murray trait of playing world weary wonderfully well, and here we see the beginning of that aspect of him that becomes one of his great strengths as an actor.

Beautiful, tragic and insightful, this debut is one to watch.

3.7/5

BUY IT ON DVD HERE

DOWNLOAD THE FILM ON iTUNES HERE

THE TRUTH ABOUT EMANUEL (2013)

A complex emotional film about the labyrinths we make up in our minds in order to deal with reality and not go under.

Life is a rollercoaster of emotions and the subtle divine feminine gets a look in here in this film directed, written and produced by Francesca Gregorini. No small feat.

The English actress Kaya Scodelario, who was always excellent in Skins (a stand out for me) and also cropped up in Moon as Sam Rockwell’s daughter, is Emanuel, beautiful, porcelain-like and an character of mystery and depth.
This is the reason I watched it, surely she is going to be a massive star.
Here she plays an American and pulls it off nicely.

Emanuel becomes fascinated by her new next door neighbour Linda (Jessica Biel) who reminds her of her dead mother. Alfred Molina plays Emanuel’s father, always interesting, always grounded in a real character and always a joy to watch.

This is a complex film dealing with bereavement and the need for love intelligently and compassionately. It is well made and worth a look if it’s your cup of tea. It is abstract in parts and deals with the issues in a beautifully feminine way. Kaya carries the film confidently and I have no doubt we shall be seeing a lot more of this talented, stunning young woman.

3.6/5

BUY IT ON BLU-RAY DVD HERE