For some inexplicable reason this movie pitched up on TCM. Thought Id seen everything this somewhat tired channel has to offer... I couldn't stop watching. The movie seethes with subliminal and explicit homo erotic content in a way that I think was a ahead of its time. The black and white photography is very moody and the performances command attention. The influence of Italian neo-realism is very present. It has that distinctive style of some 50s drama, where the scenes develop without much explanation moving the story forward. When the young gangster arrives on the island you know something is going on, without having been given all the usual clues you find in American movies.
3 Reviews
Very Mixed Feelings
jromanbaker27 July 2021
Of the two Italian films that addressed male bisexuality I prefer ' Il Mare ' as I feel it was better directed. For a start it had Umberto Orsini, and Francoise Prevost in it plus a moody young man, who rather looked like the moody young man in ' L'Isola di Arturo. ' The whole feel of ' Il Mare ' was more compelling and that again is partly due to the acting. I am not sure I was totally convinced by the acting in ' L'Isola di Arturo ', and sadly it does not make me want to read Elsa Morante's novel upon which it was based. ' Il Mare ' was also better as I believe it was more in the Nouvelle Vague way of being simply itself. I was also not taken with the wretched island ' Arturo ' was set on, nor its rituals of religious superstition. The story is complex and yet simple; a teenager idolizing his blond and very handsome father until he turns out to be a man obsessed by a male gigolo ( antiquated term, but appropriate here ), and the said gigolo is a decidedly loathsome character. Despite the terrible treatment towards women in this film I felt quite sorry for the father who ends up as equally imprisoned within himself as the actual prisoners who are incarcerated in a prison on the island. All this is seen through the decidedly heterosexual young Arturo who pouts his way to some understanding which leaves him with a decision to make, and no spoilers. So why have I given it such a high rating ? Mainly because it tackled its controversial subject matter which must have been a bit scandalous for the Italians of 1962, and also because the black and white photography is excellent. I have very mixed feelings about this film, rarely seen, and almost as forgotten as ' Il Mare' is. Both were released in the UK with X certificates for adults only and neither I think made any great impact. In that sense they paved the way to better films dealing however marginally with homosexuality, and the outright positive representations to be found in the 21st c.
Coming of age on the Island of Procida.
ItalianGerry18 April 2004
Warning: Spoilers
(Some spoilers) ARTURO'S ISLAND is a moody film about a lonely, motherless fifteen-year-old boy living on the Island of Procida in the Bay of Naples and who, without any real guidance, must fend for himself. His absentee father only returns to visit when it is convenient. When he does return, the boy, who idolizes him (for a time), does everything to please him, but is generally treated with indifference.
The father, Wilhelm, is German and calls young Arturo "Moro" ("Moor") because of his complexion and southern Italian ways that seem to derive from his now-dead mother. "You've got your mother's southern blood," he tells his son. Wilhelm brings a 17-year-old girl, Nunziata, with him on his return and marries her. They have a child. Arturo has feelings for the girl himself She is closer to his age rather than his father, and the complex stirrings of love are made more confusing here by the fact that he must treat her as a stepmother. Unable to fulfill his sexual yearnings with Nunziata (this "stepmother" rejects the boy) Antonio finds solace in the person of Teresa, an island prostitute who takes him to bed and initiates the boy into sex. Complicating the situation is the character of Tonino, a criminal just released from prison and with whom the clearly bisexual dad Wilhelm is having a sexual relationship.
As time goes on the callousness of the father and the boy's violent confrontation with dad's shabby male lover, takes its toll on the boy, (with some elements analogous to what we have seen recently in the Russian film THE RETURN.) The boy rejects the father, leaves for the mainland presumably with the sense of isolation and loneliness left behind him as he seeks a happier life on his own while moving into adulthood.
The movie, directed with his characteristic skill with actors by Damiano Damiani, is a very satisfying little piece passed on a novel of Elsa Morante. The music by Carlo Rustichelli and the haunting photographic images of Procida by photographer Roberto Gerardi help immensely. Vanni De Maigret as young Antonio seethes with adolescent energy, poutiness, and is perfectly cut for the role. For much of the movie he is a shirtless embodiment of youthful sexuality and yearning. Reginald Kernan as Wilhelm, the model of non-ideal parenthood, is fine, as are the women in the cast.
This film, which played almost nowhere after its initial unsuccessful release, and had scant distribution thereafter, has receded into almost total oblivion apart from some late-night TV showings many years ago. A shame, because there is much to appreciate here.
The father, Wilhelm, is German and calls young Arturo "Moro" ("Moor") because of his complexion and southern Italian ways that seem to derive from his now-dead mother. "You've got your mother's southern blood," he tells his son. Wilhelm brings a 17-year-old girl, Nunziata, with him on his return and marries her. They have a child. Arturo has feelings for the girl himself She is closer to his age rather than his father, and the complex stirrings of love are made more confusing here by the fact that he must treat her as a stepmother. Unable to fulfill his sexual yearnings with Nunziata (this "stepmother" rejects the boy) Antonio finds solace in the person of Teresa, an island prostitute who takes him to bed and initiates the boy into sex. Complicating the situation is the character of Tonino, a criminal just released from prison and with whom the clearly bisexual dad Wilhelm is having a sexual relationship.
As time goes on the callousness of the father and the boy's violent confrontation with dad's shabby male lover, takes its toll on the boy, (with some elements analogous to what we have seen recently in the Russian film THE RETURN.) The boy rejects the father, leaves for the mainland presumably with the sense of isolation and loneliness left behind him as he seeks a happier life on his own while moving into adulthood.
The movie, directed with his characteristic skill with actors by Damiano Damiani, is a very satisfying little piece passed on a novel of Elsa Morante. The music by Carlo Rustichelli and the haunting photographic images of Procida by photographer Roberto Gerardi help immensely. Vanni De Maigret as young Antonio seethes with adolescent energy, poutiness, and is perfectly cut for the role. For much of the movie he is a shirtless embodiment of youthful sexuality and yearning. Reginald Kernan as Wilhelm, the model of non-ideal parenthood, is fine, as are the women in the cast.
This film, which played almost nowhere after its initial unsuccessful release, and had scant distribution thereafter, has receded into almost total oblivion apart from some late-night TV showings many years ago. A shame, because there is much to appreciate here.
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