Con’s Score: 3.5 hound dogs
In a decaying Italian town, stuck between an overgrown seaside and nowhere, Marcello (Marcello Fonte) is the cheery dog groomer. Even when a dog growls menacingly at him, he finds its soft spot. Everyone and every pooch is called ‘amore’.
Marcello always has a sincerely haggard smile and a lot of love for his daughter, Alida (Alida Baldari Calabria) who he only sees fleetingly. His ex wife is always on the move (and actually doesn’t have a line in the whole film).
He is friendly with everyone, including the town’s thug, Simone (Edoardo Pesce), who is so hard, he can survive bullet wounds. Luckily he has friends like Marcello to save him, who isn’t an angel himself. He deals some cocaine on the side, which he uses to take his daughter scuba diving (although it’s doubtful he makes any money the way Simone barges in and snorts it all without paying).
The local shopkeepers want to do something about Simone, but Marcello’s weakness for him becomes his downfall.
Marcello Fonte is it brilliant as his namesake dogman, and has almost dog-like mannerisms that make you like him, despite his weaknesses. He won Best Actor at Cannes last year for this role and he’s mesmerising. He simply is Marcello.
Edoardo Pesce is brutally fearsome as Simone, the ex-boxer. He lords over the town which is in it death throes, and the police are powerless to stop him.
This was an official selection at Cannes last year, but hasn’t gained a screening here until now. It’s because it’s such a brutal film, although there are some moments of wicked black humour early. After helping with a break-in, Marcello returns to the house to rescue a chihuahua the thieves put in the freezer. He couldn’t bear to leave it die. When Simone is taken bleeding to his mother’s, she scolds and slaps him like a cranky Italian mother would. It’s good to see an Italian film with touches of humour which doesn’t descend into slapstick.
It was inspired by a 30 year-old crime story co-writer and director Mattel Garrone heard 12 years ago that had haunted him. He says it wasn’t until he met the hang-dog featured Marcello Fonte that the story fell into place for him. This is artistically shot, with long takes and dark lighting. It’s a character study of the bullied weak guy who’ll do anything to survive, and then turns vengeful.
It also works on a broad political level. For years Italian politicians have let corruption take them to the edge of financial ruin. Nice guys like a Marcello have been trodden on for long enough. The question director Garrone asks is, what is the prize? The final scenes paint it elegantly in drab grey skies, although you might not like the answer.
Con Nats – On The Screen
