“Captain’s Log”, Fifth Evening

Maremetraggio has reached the fifth evening of its journey: we are still in open sea, but the competition is approaching the more exciting highlights. Wednesday, July 7th, hosted as usual at the Savoia Excelsior, the guests of the event met the public and critics; in this case the stars of the evening were Pino Tordiglione and Patrizio Rispo, the director and leading actor of the movie “Il natale rubato” – Christmas Stolen.

Deeply moved in revealing that the film was dedicated to his mother who had recently died, Tordiglione won the attention and sympathy of the audience with his passionate words in defence of Italian cinema.

A true and genuine cinema improved even with successful ideas and excellent screenplays, which is meeting more and more difficulties in being produced and distributed.

The debate then focused on the culture of Southern Italy, which from Eduardo de Filippo, through Massimo Troisi, to the theatre of contamination of Leo de Berardinis or Tato Russo continues to be an indubitable Italian heritage. “But Eduardo”, as says Tordiglione, “is loved everywhere, even in Sondrio…”

Patrizio Rispo also spoke of the talent and professionalism of Italian movie crews: the human resources and technical skills shown, for instance, in “Un posto al sole”, which is seldom ever mentioned.

Wednesday evening then provided other highlights thanks to the scheduled film shorts: a superb start with “Le bout des doigts” by the young French director Nicols Birkenstock, a genuine masterpiece of sensitivity.

The young protagonist, Martin, is chosen to recite a poem at the school party and must face the problems posed by his bad memory and the quarrels between his parents.

It is marked by haute école minimalism and reminiscences of the cinema style of Luigi Comencini and Robert Bresson.
Great Britain is the land of origin of “Def”, written and directed by another young author (just 26 years old) Ian Clark. It is the moral fable of a teenager who dreams of becoming a rapper, but has to overcome what seems to be an insuperable obstacle: he is deaf. Excellent environment descriptions in fourteen dense and articulate minutes.

Another interesting work regarded the war-torn and hallucinatory Sarajevo described by Mario Amura in “Racconto di guerra” – War Tale: an ice-cold and livid apocalyptic scenario; destroyed feelings and, at times, references to the issue of children who were denied their childhood.

Introduced by the excellent Andro Merkù, the film short “L’apparenza” – The Appearance – by Davide Dapporto was screened; it was produced by Maddalena Mayneri Produzioni with the active assistance of the Italian Carabinieri (represented by a number of officers in the audience).

Starring Massino Dapporto, one of the favourite actors of Trieste’s audience, the film tells of diversity from a point of view, which is far from ever being demagogic.

The Ippocampo section once again provided the scene for superb cinema on Southern Italy with “la destinazione” – The Destination – by Piero Sanna at the City Park. It is a work at times both awkward and controversial in which the characters’ desperation is matched by the rugged landscapes of a Sardinia marked by the survival of ancient traditions alongside a host of contradictions.

It must be pointed out that this edition of Maremetraggio made it possible for the public to discover a cinema and culture which differ greatly from those of “Mitteleuropa”. Another person discovering Trieste for the first time is the young leading actor of the film “La destinazione” – The Destination – by Roberto Magnani. Another appointment this evening for another…dive in the many ports of Maremetraggio.

Riccardo Visintin