GRADE: B-
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: An odd little film that wants to say more than it actually does.
JIM'S REVIEW: Happy as Lazzaro, a parable about working class strife, takes its time telling its story about the rich noble family and their haughty dismissal of the poor servants who work on their tobacco farm. The story takes place in an imaginary town called Inviolata where illegal indentured servitude seems to be the norm. Directed and written by Alice Rohrwacher, the film shows the rural poverty and oppression very well as it weaves its tale about a hard-working peasant named Lazarro (Adriano Tardiolo) who befriends Tancredi, a pampered and spoiled Marquis.
The problem with the screenplay is that Lazarro is a dolt, a good person without much sense or emotion. As written, he is a blank slate, a straight man without a sidekick. Everyone takes advantage of our hero, as does Tancredi who concocts a fake kidnapping scheme to get back at his cruel mother, Alfonsina, the Queen of Cigarettes. He assigns Lazarro the job of being his alleged captor, and his dim-witted foil gratefully accepts this role. As this inane plot spirals out of control and affects the whole village in major ways, so does Ms. Rohrwacher's plot spin out of control and affects the entire movie in major ways too.
Midway through this neo-realistic film, the entire tone changes into an mystical allegory of good vs. evil as the story becomes otherworldly with elements of magic realism involving wolves, stark imagery, time-traveling, odd unexplained events, and a "forever young" Lazarro. The two narratives just do not mesh, although I did enjoy the cleverness of second act reveal more than the heavy-handedness in the earlier segments.
Happy as Lazarro is an interesting venture, with its angelic title character playing an Italian Forest Gump figure whose sheer presence acts as a catalyst for everyone else involved. But the film never builds to an emotional and satisfying conclusion. It just goes about its meandering ways and celebrates its oddness, long past its due.
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: An odd little film that wants to say more than it actually does.
JIM'S REVIEW: Happy as Lazzaro, a parable about working class strife, takes its time telling its story about the rich noble family and their haughty dismissal of the poor servants who work on their tobacco farm. The story takes place in an imaginary town called Inviolata where illegal indentured servitude seems to be the norm. Directed and written by Alice Rohrwacher, the film shows the rural poverty and oppression very well as it weaves its tale about a hard-working peasant named Lazarro (Adriano Tardiolo) who befriends Tancredi, a pampered and spoiled Marquis.
The problem with the screenplay is that Lazarro is a dolt, a good person without much sense or emotion. As written, he is a blank slate, a straight man without a sidekick. Everyone takes advantage of our hero, as does Tancredi who concocts a fake kidnapping scheme to get back at his cruel mother, Alfonsina, the Queen of Cigarettes. He assigns Lazarro the job of being his alleged captor, and his dim-witted foil gratefully accepts this role. As this inane plot spirals out of control and affects the whole village in major ways, so does Ms. Rohrwacher's plot spin out of control and affects the entire movie in major ways too.
Midway through this neo-realistic film, the entire tone changes into an mystical allegory of good vs. evil as the story becomes otherworldly with elements of magic realism involving wolves, stark imagery, time-traveling, odd unexplained events, and a "forever young" Lazarro. The two narratives just do not mesh, although I did enjoy the cleverness of second act reveal more than the heavy-handedness in the earlier segments.
Happy as Lazarro is an interesting venture, with its angelic title character playing an Italian Forest Gump figure whose sheer presence acts as a catalyst for everyone else involved. But the film never builds to an emotional and satisfying conclusion. It just goes about its meandering ways and celebrates its oddness, long past its due.