Man and wife discuss their relationship while sojourning at his place of birth, a fishing village. Parallel subplots concern the day-to-day life of villagers: the conflict between fishermen and health inspectors, the death of a child, a young man who wants permission to court a 16-year-old woman, a water joust, a dancing ball, etc.
Somewhat underdeveloped mix of ethnographic semi-documentary and intimate drama. I wonder whether the remarkable similarity in style between the dramatic portions of this film and the work by a few other famous directors made after it are just a coincidence; by the way, a shot from this film (two faces in close-up, one in front view and another in profile) is identical to a shot in Persona. These French villagers, all of which apparently have Italian surnames and faces to match, acquire a nearly mythical aura through the filmmaker's lens; this is an example of how a privileged cinematic point-of-view influences the opinion of viewers. While probably constrained by a survival imperative to break the law, they are obviously harming their customers by selling them infected shellfish; in reviews, however, they are never criticized ( "poor but proud people", says Wikipedia); the Law, on the other hand, is implicitly placed under suspicion ("a small lagoon they have been forbidden to use because of an alleged problem with bacteria" (Wikipedia, my italics).
Rating: 40
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment