Forgive our debts ****
There is a direct, evident, tangible, visual violence and a subtle, subtle, rarefied and widespread one. The difference between the two may consist in the impact, in the moment in which it manifests itself, in the fraction of time it takes to reach our physical and psychological receptors and, subsequently, to be placed in the moral area of competence. In fact, there are many cases, circumstances, where violence can be justified, understood, accepted as legitimate and necessary. When it happens that violent behavior and language take on a daily, social and cultural dimension, the culture of violence is formed which, at times, seems so widespread in our society as well.
All this is spoken to you, and it can be seen, in the film by Antonio Morabito Forgive our debts, since yesterday in distribution on Netflix, the first original non-serial Italian film produced by the online platform. The story concerns two characters, Marco Giallini and Claudio Santamaria in great shape, who deal with recovering outstanding debts on behalf of a bank. They find themselves dealing with the worst side of human nature ranging from greed to gratuitous malice, where in the middle we can glimpse the economic crisis capable of bending the legs even of those animated by the best good will to get out of it. Giallini's figure is particularly rasped, aggressive, highly effective in making that role, that kind of activity unbearable – a job? – which, for certain aspects of which we speak, may also appear right and necessary. Santamaria, on the other hand, assumes the guise of the good side, the better side, of human nature: attentive and understanding, who tries to be different from what he is but fails. The dialogues between them and with other protagonists (the professor and the waitress) are simply perfect, they manage to give all the sufficient and necessary elements to outline people who participate in the story and enrich it with their strong humanity. All credible, effective, immediately intelligible.
The story unfolds with images of a certain Rome which remains in the background, twilight, a little detached and paints a backdrop suitable for the narrative context. To underline a very careful work on the lights and on the photography, a style as effective as it is suitable for the viewing methods (television streaming) of the Netflix platform. Perhaps a slight excess of sensitivity derived from too much Hopper, largely metabolized both in the classic images of drawings and paintings, as well as on the big screen. A small side note on the audio: the direct microphone input works if used to perfection, otherwise a mix of noises that are not easily perceptible often comes out.
Morabito's film deserves great attention and puts the quality of Italian cinema back at the center, which is there, exists, but which is often sacrificed at the box office in the name of brutal commercial policies. The approach to post-cinema, this new era of production and distribution that no longer sees the classic cinema at its centre, deserves further reflection. Forgive our debts we will not see it on the big screen but comfortably seated in our armchairs, or traveling on a tablet. It was said by Morabito himself that it is “better to be up Netflix in ninety countries rather than disappearing after a few days in a few theatres”. This is something completely different than in the past. It is too early to make judgments and, at the moment, only advantages can be glimpsed. In the meantime, we are content to appreciate, in the best possible conditions, a high quality work of rare stylistic attention.
