L'ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre) (2002)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Marco Bellocchio

Writer:

Marco Bellocchio (written by)

Release Date:

19 April 2002 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A celebrated painter receives a visit from a cardinal's assistant, who informs him that his mother could become a saint.

Plot Keywords:

Saint | Cardinal | Painter | Priest | Italy

Awards:

14 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Sergio Castellitto	...	Ernesto Picciafuocco
Jacqueline Lustig	...	Irene Picciafuocco
Chiara Conti	...	Diana Sereni
Gigio Alberti	...	Ettore Picciafuocco
Alberto Mondini	...	Leonardo Picciafuocco
Gianfelice Imparato	...	Erminio Picciafuocco
Gianni Schicchi	...	Filippo Argenti (as Gianni Schicchi Gabrieli)
Maurizio Donadoni	...	Cardinal Piumini
Donato Placido	...	Egidio Picciafuocco
Renzo Rossi	...	Baldracchi
Pietro De Silva	...	Curzio Sandali
Bruno Cariello	...	Don Pugni
Piera Degli Esposti	...	Aunt Maria
Toni Bertorelli	...	Count Ludovico Bulla
Maria Luisa Bellocchio	...	Zia Ernesto

Also Known As:

My Mother's Smile (USA)
The Religion Hour (Europe: English title)
The Religion Hour (My Mother's Smile) (International: English title)

Runtime:

103 min | Argentina:105 min (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema) | France:102 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Italy:VM14

Company:

Filmalbatros

Trivia:

Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2002 (#06)

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Buongiorno, notte (2003)

Soundtrack:

Musica celestis

It reminds you how painful it is to THINK

L'ora di religione is not a beautiful movie in any sense of the word. It is dark, the shadows and lights of Rome are matched by the moody vision of the director. Bellocchio plays with images Fellini style, but doesn't focus so much on the caricature in 8 & 1/2 style, but tries to convey the ambiguity of contemporary religious life. It's the ambiguity of modernity; cell phones versus pictures of the saints, the feared "immaginette" Italian kids grew up with. Nothing can change, but so much has changed. Bellocchio's movie style is ripe with symbols: a fat Jesus crosses the road with a plastic cross. Priests in the Vatican force african kids to climb stairs on their knees: the church is portrayed to exploit the same old mother load: the poor, the weak, the ignorant, the child. At some point Ernesto, the main character masterfully played by Castellitto finds himself involved in an incongruous duel with a symbol of a past so remote it appears comical: he loses the duel instantly as the swords cross. Nothing can change. Yet we can maybe hope to keep our identity, and even if god's pervasive presence deprives us of freedom, as Ernesto's son is taught, falling in love, shouting a blasphemous curse can be an act of individuality. Or maybe not.