Author's Judgment:
A cinematic autumn full of interesting proposals. This week's movie is Disobedience, directed by Sebastián Lelio, starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams. The film was, in our opinion, unjustly classified in the "sentimental" genre but, in hindsight, it is a story about a powerful clash of culture, religion and society that borders on feelings but overflows towards drama.
The story concerns the daughter of an English rabbi who, following his death, returns for the funeral. In the community where she grew up, she finds herself an old flame of hers, now the wife of the rabbi's favorite disciple. Her return rekindles the passion between the two women. It will not be easy to decide which is the best choice for the freedom to be oneself, even against the rituals and customs imposed by the religion in which they believe.
It is a sophisticated, complicated, important film. Sophisticated because the director has to manage a script full of controversial, changeable elements, all concentrated on the shoulders of the characters who all show remarkable acting skills. Complicated because it deals with a theme, that of individual freedoms, in particular the homosexual relationship, which still requires a lot of work to be correctly accepted and shared. Finally, important because it deals with the difficult coexistence between religious dogma and daily life.
The Chilean director, already awarded with an Oscar, not very well known on Italian screens, realizes a film worth watching if only because it offers us an anomalous stylistic and narrative model compared to the Italian panorama, often prey to easy shortcuts towards light comedy and manners even when it wants to tackle difficult topics.
OTHER FILMS AVAILABLE
We also propose three other titles, still for a few days in theaters. The first is Traveling with Adele, first work by Alessandro Capitani with a Alessandro Haber, consolidated evergreen, and the young Sara Serraiocco. This is the film genre "on the road" which also had its fortune in Italy (see Carlo Verdone and Alberto Sordi). The story is that of a girl with a behavior deficiency syndrome and her father who unexpectedly discovers that he has a daughter who is the result of a now forgotten relationship. The story unfolds lightly, almost impalpable, touching delicate strings (mental discomfort, the father-daughter relationship, images of a degraded South of the country) but does not play them with the correct tone. Maybe too light.
The second is Soldier, the long-awaited film of Stefano Sollima, already known and established director of the successful series of Gomorrah and later of Suburra. Usual action movies on the border between Mexico and the United States, the usual war between the US federal government and criminal gangs, the usual more or less eventful actions between shootings and deployment of military vehicles. It is not always clear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. Nothing to do with the previous Sicario, on the same plot. Surprise ending: Sequel declared. For fans of the genre it is a middle-of-the-road film: half a line beyond the cost of the ticket.
The third film Fahrenheit 11 / 9 in truth it is a documentary and belongs to that vein of political films of great importance. After the success of the previous Fahrenheit 9/11 this time Michael Moore reverses the numbers and tells us about the rise to power of Donald Trump, which took place with his inauguration in the White House on November 9, 2016. As usual, Moore does not give discounts to anyone, least of all those who supposedly could or should have opposed politically his election, in the lead the Democrats and among them, first and foremost, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. One may or may not agree with the theses and reasoning proposed by Moore, but undoubtedly some of the proposed themes leave their mark such as, for example, the US electoral system where whoever gets the most votes does not govern and where over 50% of the electorate does not go to the polls. Something, at least for our eyes, is not working. To see and remember.
