Maraviglioso Boccaccio (2015)

English title: Wondrous Boccaccio

Based on stories from the Decameron, by Giovanni Boccacio, first published around 1350.

In 1348, Florence is hit hard with the plague. A few youngsters (3 men and 7 women) decide to take refuge at a nearby country estate. During their stay there they pass the time by telling stories to one another. The action shifts between them and the stories they tell, which are the following: (1) a young married woman has the plague. Her family have her transported to a retired place, and while on the road her condition worsens. A man who is in love with her is following her carriage. (2) At an art studio, two painters decide to play a prank on a third one. They pretend they know of a certain stone which makes people invisible. (3) A young widow goes back to live with her doting father. The latter has a young metalsmith friend who lives near him. (4) At a nun's convent, a young nun is caught with a man in her bed. The other nuns summon the mother superior. (5) A young man has an unrequited  love for a married woman. He comes to lose all his possessions, except one house and his pet falcon. The woman's husband dies; she goes to spend one summer near where the young man lives. Her only son befriends the young man and becomes attached to his falcon. The child becomes very ill.

Agreeable adaptation, with lovely cinematography and overall competent mise-en-scène. It is hard to say what went into the filmmakers' minds when they selected those particular 5 stories, but there is a subtle unifying theme to them, namely how appearances cast a veil on reality and induce one into error. This theme is evident enough in all the stories except perhaps number (3), but I think one may find it there also, in the disclosing of a dark side to a father's apparently benign feelings.

Rating: 60