Kaos (1984)

Second viewing; first viewed between 1984 and 1986.

Based on five stories by Luigi Pirandello collected in the series "Novelle per un anno" ("Short Stories for a Year"): "L'altro figlio" ("The Other Son", 1st pub. 1902), "Male di luna" ("Moonsickness", 1st pub. 1913), "La giara" ("The Jar", 1st pub. 1906), "Requiem aeternam dona eis, domine!" ("Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them, O Lord!", 1st pub. 1913), "Colloquii coi personaggi" ("Conversations with the Characters", 1st pub. 1915).

All stories are set in Sicily. (1) An aging woman is sad because her emigrated sons do not answer her letters; she has one son who stayed in Sicily, whom she cannot stand; (2) a man has a strange sickness about which his wife will only find out after the wedding; (3) a rich landowner buys a big jar to store his harvest of olives, but one morning he finds it broken; he hires a man to mend it; (4) a small community demands from the local baron a place for a cemetery; (5) a writer visits the place where he grew up and has a conversation with his dead mother; they recollect events in his childhood.

 Admittedly, this is an honest depiction of Sicily at a certain time in the past. However, the episodes are not especially well written or well filmed. It is a mildly agreeable film.

Rating: 56 (down from 66)