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Reviews
Lasciateci fare Vol. 1 (2015)
Remarkable work
The documentary aims to provide a structured critique of the world economic system, founded on neoliberal ideology, as it consolidated through the twentieth century. Starting quickly from Adam Smith, the work focuses above all on the events that go through the crisis of '29, the Keynesian politics and that of post-war welfare, the claims of the '60s and' 70s with the consolidation of the middle class, then lingering over in particular on the rise and affirmation of the Chicago school, which, since the late 1970s, ideologically reaffirms the need for less state intervention (considered a cause of public debt and inflation) and total freedom of the economic system, seen as a natural source of wealth and well-being for people. In the story, the neoliberal ideology is told as conceived by the economist Milton Friedman and then, in fact, sponsored and applied by Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. The story includes digressions on the Chilean affair of the early 1970s and the neo-colonial policy of exploiting developing countries, implemented through the debt mechanism. Finally, even the realities of China and Russia (80s and 90s) are quickly introduced as being affected by the same ideology and therefore by the same effects. In the background, the contrast between democracy and neoliberalism constantly appears, where the latter tends to reduce the former. The volume ends with the development and enlargement of the European Union, therefore probably at the end of the last century.
The narration is based on a careful and competent choice of historical events and on many interviews with journalists and economists, of evident stature. As a whole, however, it appears (even unnecessarily, given the explicit meaning of the contributions) a little too prepackaged and excessively guided in the off-screen voice by the thesis that is intended to be demonstrated. The same opening is deliberately and strongly aimed at immediately establishing a prejudice in the viewer, which is not very useful, since the plot itself of the story well supports the thesis that it intends to support. While the technical and narrative workmanship of the work and the treatment of the individual elements of the story appear very professional and supported by an excellent historical knowledge, the viewer unconsciously (but not too much) identifies the lack of a complete and therefore objective vision of the events, in particularly in the absence of the role played in the postwar period by the opposition of the blocs and the scarce relevance given to the actual imbalances that the State, or rather politics, had actually generated in the economy itself at the end of the 1970s, through corruption, inefficiency, ideology, decommissioning. Hence, the contrast between social democratic and neoliberal views appears more as a struggle between good and evil, in which unidentified "occult wills" act, rather than as a battle between two worldviews. The idea that neoliberalism was deliberately supported in order to influence and indoctrinate the political-economic culture of the time is underlined too much, when it is evident that this happened for all the ideological visions then existing. In short, the idea of directing "great old men" in flesh and blood prevails, rather than that of a system that, intrinsically and independently of its interpreters, creates imbalances and inequalities, if not managed, limited and moderated from the outside (State, democracy, welfare). Perhaps, a lesser tendency to suggest the existence of a personalization of evil and an unidentified perverse will of some, coupled with a greater analysis of how the capitalist system automatically generates wealth in the few and poverty in many, could have been a cut better interpretative and also more consistent with the story itself.
It is therefore a very appreciable work, which certainly represents a fundamental contribution to an independent historical reflection on facts that are often deliberately forgotten today. A more careful description of the mechanism and of the "objective" interests of the neoliberal system and the avoidance of an a priori and pre-packaged judgment (and of a too personalistic interpretation), would have better respected the critical sense of the spectator, capable of drawing his conclusions from such a well-crafted narrative.
Celebrity (1998)
Not Allen's best movie
The story of an inconclusive young screenwriter who lives on the fringes of Hollywood cinema, of his encounter with characters of all kinds and his relationships with various women. In a very articulate and incessant dynamic, the film presents the extravagances and anxieties of that world of actors who are somehow ambitious but always very fragile, if not downright empty, focusing in particular on the female figures met by the protagonist, always poised between a unprofitable work and constantly evolving feelings, between a past that is always unsolved and a future that is always uncertain. Black and white film, with good actors and setting and characterization of the characters, sometimes a little too caricatured, to underline the neurosis of an environment that is never serene. Enjoyable, even if not Allen's best movie.
È stata la mano di Dio (2021)
Typical Sorrentiniano-Servillian film
Sorrentino's autobiography film, which tells about his teenage years, amidst very Neapolitan and even pseudo-surreal family, social and professional environments, with characters with strong colors, sometimes too caricatured. Intense, dramatic events, bordering on disquieting, with the constant background of Maradona's arrival in Naples: dream and reality, and, in this specific case, a life-saving reason for the protagonist. Typical Sorrentiniano-Servillian film, with excellent photography and refined dialogues, which, carrying neither precise messages nor lightness of narration, is probably more appreciated either by those who know those environments or by those who prefer the aftertaste of complicated and popular psychological events.
Scoop (2006)
Very enjoyable 7.5
The casual collaboration, in a London environment, between a very young aspiring journalist and a perky elderly American, in investigating the possible involvement in some serial killings of a rich handsome young man, who in the meantime also becomes her partner.
Typical Woody Allen-like comedy, in this case in a "yellow" setting, pleasant and captivating, with some comic moments and some usual paradoxical element (the two pretend to be father and daughter). The two are very good (Scarlett Johansson is the girl), colorful and lively photography as always, very smooth film.