Ballo a tre passi (2003)

Director:

Salvatore Mereu

Writer:

Salvatore Mereu (writer)

Release Date:

19 February 2004 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Four separate-but-interconnected stories - one for each season - about life in Sardinia. |

Plot Keywords:

Sardinia | Children | Child's Play | Shepherd | Masturbation Scene

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Yaël Abecassis	...	Francesca
Domenico Arba	...	Pera
Pietro Arba	...	Ziu Predu
Francesco Barracca	...	Peppeddu
Rossella Bergo	...	Palla
Angelo Botti	...	Peppeddu
Alexandra Brancaccio	...	Travestito
Michele Carboni	...	Michele
Daniele Casula	...	Andrea
Lisa Chessa	...	Simona
Caroline Ducey	...	Solveig
Mauro Frongia	...	Macangiu
Simone Frongia	...	Giuseppe
Tonino Fulgheri	...	Marieddu
Emiliana Gimelli	...	Giovanna
Sebastiano Lai	...	Istene
Giampaolo Loddo	...	Giorgio
Pietrina Mennea	...	Maddalena
Roberta Perra	...	Peppuccia
Carmine Recano	...	Luca
Agostino Sale	...	Agustin
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Massimo
Francesco Vedele	...	Padre Marieddu

Also Known As:

Three Dancing Slaves (USA) (DVD title)
Three Step Dancing (USA) (festival title)
Three-Step Dance (International: English title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Sardinian | French | Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Sardinia, Italy

Company:

Eyescreen S.r.l.

Soundtrack:

Let's celebrate

Stale, smelly, festering

I was so embarrassed watching this film - I couldn't even manage to stay until the end. I was looking forward to a nice surprise: films made in and about Sardinia do not come out every day. Sadly my expectations withered slowly away since the very beginning. This movie has no pace, no acting, no plot, no breathtaking scenery, no likable character, not even the urchins in the first episode. It simply appeals to your "gut" feeling. Everybody - kids included - is appallingly repulsive, performs incoherent deeds, appears to be some subhuman being in desperate need of a shower. I could catch no underlying humour, probably my fault.

The first scene shows some dire, deserted interior, with piles of rotting material scattered everywhere, the most attractive fixture being an overweight sewer rat gorging itself on some unidentified revolting substance. In the second episode we are treated to a candid camera-like take of a cross/eyed shepherd milking the flock and making cheese while feeding his pig. If this is supposed to look realistic, the Sardinian cheese industry is going to lose a good portion of its revenues. We follow the sheperd's trip from his "idyllic" hideout in the mountains to a "trendy" eatery on the coast, whose cheesy owner performs a series of senseless actions and feeds his customers the aforesaid cheese, and so on and so forth. I really could not take much more of that.

I left the cinema feeling queasy, wondering if my indigestion had been caused by what I had viewed.

1 out of 4.