I appreciate what The Director was trying to do but maybe I'm jaded or because I'm from the future I feel like I have seen it done successfully elsewhere.
The Asians have done it better. Americans have stellar examples of it. The silence that speaks, the glances that reveal, the customs that illuminate etc. Unfotuntely they are few and coarse in this work. This work apparently pioneered the slice-of-life documentary feel which would explain it's overated status. Not to mention it's the only one of it's kind as sated in the trivia section of this IMDB webpage. Similar to Joseph Conrad's book Heart of Darkness, being the first to do it and so garnered a reputation as a masterpiece when in truth it sucked but did one thing well serving as a novelty from which better Writers took inspiration and pointers on creating ominuous ambience. Nonetheless, it is respectable that a group of italians got together and paid homage to their ancestors and their way of life. As an ode to the proto-Italians long gone who toiled, ate, struggled, loved and took whatever small pleasures they could, prayed and hoped for a better future or their offspring, and laid groundwork for their bloodline to flourish then become insular and "boujee" to the point they poo poo their ancestor's lifestyle of sustenance on livestock.
It's true, this movie has no characterisation. You're supposed to just admire the craftsmanship of the 19th century recreation, and either pity their meekness and meager means or laud their herosim in the face of hardship.
Their challenges aren't compelling because they hardly discuss their issues nor does the film delve enough in their lives for you to understand their choices and thus feel for them. At those points the film would actually benefit, allo stile documentario, from a narrator who spells out their dilemmas and potential fallout. They often resort to desperate measures that feel unreasonable and transpire through the film as facile drammatizaion or a cheap attempt at tear jerking. Courtship in Bergamasco culture has the feel of an imminent violent rape and bloody murder for todays western women because the film doesn't buttress the singular and tentative pursuit with scenes that explain the norms that govern courtship. Admirable, honorable material. Lives of those who we too often forget, a trailblazer of cinema verité. OK by (maybe unfairly) todays standards.
The Asians have done it better. Americans have stellar examples of it. The silence that speaks, the glances that reveal, the customs that illuminate etc. Unfotuntely they are few and coarse in this work. This work apparently pioneered the slice-of-life documentary feel which would explain it's overated status. Not to mention it's the only one of it's kind as sated in the trivia section of this IMDB webpage. Similar to Joseph Conrad's book Heart of Darkness, being the first to do it and so garnered a reputation as a masterpiece when in truth it sucked but did one thing well serving as a novelty from which better Writers took inspiration and pointers on creating ominuous ambience. Nonetheless, it is respectable that a group of italians got together and paid homage to their ancestors and their way of life. As an ode to the proto-Italians long gone who toiled, ate, struggled, loved and took whatever small pleasures they could, prayed and hoped for a better future or their offspring, and laid groundwork for their bloodline to flourish then become insular and "boujee" to the point they poo poo their ancestor's lifestyle of sustenance on livestock.
It's true, this movie has no characterisation. You're supposed to just admire the craftsmanship of the 19th century recreation, and either pity their meekness and meager means or laud their herosim in the face of hardship.
Their challenges aren't compelling because they hardly discuss their issues nor does the film delve enough in their lives for you to understand their choices and thus feel for them. At those points the film would actually benefit, allo stile documentario, from a narrator who spells out their dilemmas and potential fallout. They often resort to desperate measures that feel unreasonable and transpire through the film as facile drammatizaion or a cheap attempt at tear jerking. Courtship in Bergamasco culture has the feel of an imminent violent rape and bloody murder for todays western women because the film doesn't buttress the singular and tentative pursuit with scenes that explain the norms that govern courtship. Admirable, honorable material. Lives of those who we too often forget, a trailblazer of cinema verité. OK by (maybe unfairly) todays standards.
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