An interesting work from Tornatore, while it is no match to his lovely "The Legend of 1900." "Baaria," apart from being autobiographical, is too clichéd (and dumb): A live fly imprisoned inside a wooden top by a blacksmith, apparently lays eggs that develop into another live fly decades later; a man who buys dollars as a trade for a living (shown yelling at public meetings in several scenes as a memory stamp for the lead character and the director) sells pens after the Americans have left Italy; a Leftist who saw "terrifying" things in Russia (in his own words) continues to be in the party...
Apart from all this, the two lead actors, Scianna and Made (who was a model in her own right), the lovely Angela Molina, and the graceful Lina Sastri are wonderful to watch. Monica Bellucci, does a wordless cameo topless sex scene, which was totally unnecessary in the development of the film. Morricone was good but not exceptional here. The references to Fellini's "Satyricon", Rosi's "Three Brothers," and the poster of a Raf Vallone film, and a Hollywood film show Tornatore's love for cinema without borders, also evident in his "Cinema Paradiso".
Give me "The Legend of 1900" any day--that was Tornatore's best work for me, a work of a mature director.
Apart from all this, the two lead actors, Scianna and Made (who was a model in her own right), the lovely Angela Molina, and the graceful Lina Sastri are wonderful to watch. Monica Bellucci, does a wordless cameo topless sex scene, which was totally unnecessary in the development of the film. Morricone was good but not exceptional here. The references to Fellini's "Satyricon", Rosi's "Three Brothers," and the poster of a Raf Vallone film, and a Hollywood film show Tornatore's love for cinema without borders, also evident in his "Cinema Paradiso".
Give me "The Legend of 1900" any day--that was Tornatore's best work for me, a work of a mature director.