|
Jean, a young and idealistic Napoleonic soldier, is conveying
a consignment of gold across Tuscany. During a short rest
stop he meets and falls in love with Elisabetta Benedetti,whose
charms blind him to the fact that her brothers have stolen
the gold. The loss of the gold costs Jean his life and places
a curse on the Benedetti family - a curse that would bring
tragedy through the generations that were to come...
Fiorile (1993) was directed by brothers Paolo and Vittorio
Taviani. The film was nominated for a Golden Palm at the Cannes
Film Festival and a Golden Frog at Camerimage. It also won
a David di Donatello award for production designer Gianni
Sbarra. The Taviani brothers work in a peculiar way, alternating
who is directing a particular scene, though the relationship
is such a perfect symbiosis that it is difficult to discern
who shot what.
The story takes place in four time frames: the Napoleonic
War, pre World War Two, during World War Two and its linking
contemporary setting. The basic structure for most of the
film is that of Elisabette's modern descendants travelling
back to Tuscany with the parents telling their children the
story of the curse and how it had affected various members
of the family. The structure has all the elements to be relatively
uninteresting until the Taviani brothers put their own little
twist on things.
The film opens with the family in the car and the father relating
the original story of the stolen gold. The child stares out
of the window imagining the troops travelling through the
wood, when right in front of them the troops appear. Although
never seen in the same frame this clash of the modern and
the historical works very well. It is a motif that is used
throughout the film to strengthen the ties between the present
and the past. As the family travel home they pass places which
are significant in their families' history, thus the next
sequence in the story is triggered.
To further these ties various actors play multiple roles.
Galatea Ranzi plays the ill fated Elisabetta Benedetti as
well as Elisa her descendant. Like wise Michael Vartan plays
Jean and his descendant Massimo, lastly Claudio Bigagli plays
Corrado the original gold thief and his descendent Alessandro.
If the film has a fault it's that it starts so well that the
following vignettes never quite match up to it. The opening
story of Jean and Elisabette is genuinely moving as the young
lovers are torn apart by an act of theft by her own brother
- a brother whom she begs to find Jean's killer unaware that
she is looking straight at him.
The second segment, where a hundred years later Elisabette's
descendant enact her revenge on her brothers, is a little
more ponderous, though lavish in its costumes and set design.
The third vignette rallies the film with Massimo trying to
escape the curse only to be outwitted at every turn. This
portion of the film nicely sequays into the contemporary setting
with Massimo's son bringing his children to see their dying
grandfather. Although the tone and the brightly lit shots
of the family initially give the impression that this is a
generation which has escaped the curse, the theft of a single
gold coin by the child sits in his hand like a harbinger of
doom.
Overall
the film is a not unsuccessful blend of historical drama and
horror film. The score, by Nicola Piovani, is at times both
chilling and evocative. The whole thing is nicely rounded
off by Giuseppe Lanci's cinematography.
The disc contains only a single extra, but what an extra,
a whole hour and twenty minutes of the brothers discussing
their earliest influences right up to how they construct and
shoot a movie.
Whilst this does not represent a classic of cinema it is well
worth two hours of anyone's time.
Charles
Packer
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£11.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£11.99
(Play.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£9.99
(HMV.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£10.89
(Sendit.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£10.99
(Bensons-world.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£10.97
(Thehut.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
