OUR LAND (LA TERRA)
**** out of *****

Reviewed by Mike Cavanaugh

Screening in the 12th Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival
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Genres
Comedy
Crime
Drama

2006
Directed by
Sergio Rubini
Written by
Sergio Rubini
Carla Cavalluzzi
Angelo Pasquini
Cast
Fabrizio Bentivoglio - Luidi De Santo
Paolo Briguglia - Mario De Santo
Massimo Venturiello - Aldo De Santo
Emilio Solfrizzi - Michele De Santo
Giovana Di Rauso - Angela
Sergio Rubini - Tonino
Claudia Gerini -Laura

You know that feeling you get when you watch a film, where you feel something should happen but never does.  La Terra did that to me for at the start, I didn’t know what was going on.  It’s a good thing I did though, as the performances were flawlessly weighted, the pace sharpened, and the twists and turns unfolded.  Sergio Rubini has created an intriguing piece, and Fabrizio Bentivoglio plays the centrepiece so well.

After his father’s death, Luigi (Bentivoglio) is forced to return to his Pugliese hometown.   As a young man, Luigi rebelled against his father, leaving his family. Now as a mature professor of philosophy at Milan University, he is slowly drawn back into the troubled world he thought he had left behind.  Luigi returns to his brothers Michele (Emilio Solfrizzi), a struggling businessman, and Mario (Paolo Briguglia), a student committed to helping the handicapped, to help convince his half-brother Aldo (Massimo Venturiello) to sell a semi-abandoned family farm.  Old-wounds begin to slowly open, and fresh ones are exposed in their dealings with Tonino (Rubini), the sinister powerbroker of the town.

As mentioned earlier, La Terra takes a while to unfold, and it does so at an initial snail pace.  At first, I wasn’t sure what was happening or what kind of film we were watching.  The slow pace, however, means we get to watch Luigi slowly begin to unravel and open himself back up to the town and family he once loved.  The drama slowly emerges, coupled with black comedy and oddities to keep things moving.

Ultimately, La Terra is about murder, intrigue, romance, revenge, and dysfunctional families.  It is well worth watching

This film will screen in Wellington at The Paramount on October 23rd at 6:15pm, 24th at 6:30pm and on the 25th at 3:30pm.

Please refer to the homepage for the fesatival for more information on screenings in other parts of the country.