La messa è finita (1985)

Director:

Nanni Moretti

Writers:

Nanni Moretti (writer)
Sandro Petraglia (writer)

Release Date:

15 November 1985 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Don Giulio, giovane prete romano, ritorna a casa dopo essere stato parroco in un'isola del Mar Tirreno ed è destinato ad una chiesa di periferia...

Plot Keywords:

Problem Solving | Friend | Dante | Baptism | Catholic

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Nanni Moretti	...	Don Giulio
Ferruccio De Ceresa	...	Father of Don Giulio
Marco Messeri	...	Saverio
Enrica Maria Modugno	...	Valentina
Dario Cantarelli	...	Gianni
Giovanni Buttafava	...	Lawyer
Luisa De Santis	...	Lucia
Pietro De Vico	...	Friar
Eugenio Masciari	...	Antonio
Vincenzo Salemme	...	Andrea
Roberto Vezzosi	...	Cesare
Margarita Lozano	...	Mother of Don Giulio
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Manfredi Aliquo
Francesco Di Giacomo	...	Federico
Mauro Fabretti	...	Simone
Antonella Fattori	...	Astrid
Inigo Lezzi	...	Plumber
Luigi Moretti	...	Judge
Luisanna Pandolfi	...	The Mother
Bianca Pesce	...	Silvia, la sposa
Carlina Torta	...	Arianna
Mario Monaci Toschi
Mariella Valentini

Also Known As:

The Mass Is Ended

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:T

Company:

Faso Film

Soundtrack:

Ritornerai

A very serious film about a life that has been isolated for about ten years.

A great and very touching film. Similraties can be find between "le journal d'un curé de campagne" of Bresson, "winter light" of Bergman and that wonderful "la messa è finita". It was strange to me to find out a Moretti film which has not got a very determined autobiographical narration. This film is not "hilarous" or even "funny", it is about the ability to faith, to believe in someone, to love someone. The ironic face of Moretti is on the background: A confused Italian society panorama with its lots generations, wit its moral values between a traditional Catholicism and a capitalistic and individualistic vision of a society. A film of spring, but the feelings that it brings are more like the feelings of autumn. It is melancholic. It is harsh. It is about a young man who believes and who dares to return: Turning back to an island that the winds blows so powerfully that the church is attached to the soil with the chains. young man who has alienated from the world of his childhood. Rome of his memories does not exist anymore. His family, his parents, his brothers and sisters, everything about his past has changed. So a film about changing time. A film about someone who is not able to understand what is going on between the couples, who is daring to investigate the sense of love and being a couple.

A very well-written film: Screenplay is literally good. Not just a portrait of a man or a panorama of a society, but also the stories of happiness-es and sadness-es. A film about inner-life's. It is highly bergmanesque -- A film that ends where it begins. A film as a gallery of strange characters from the misanthrope brother to ex-communist. A very courageous film proves the talent of Moretti which can be situated among Bresson or Bergman. (Not only Allen and some other comics.)