(2023, Italia, 74')
Giuseppe De Santis nurtured his passion for cinema with extensive work as a film critic and as screenwriter, which was almost an anomaly in the neorealist current that came to prominence after World War II. De Santis tells stories of oppression, prevarication, and violence, all while refusing the pared-down, almost documentary-like scenography that was trending at the time. For him, form is just as important as content, and a creative, skilled use of the camera is valuable way to push forward a narrative.
Masterpieces like Bitter Rice (1949), No Peace Under the Olive Tree (1950), Rome 11:00 (1952) (the latter informed by a journalistic investigation conducted by De Santis’ protégé Elio Petri) built unique pictures of a merciless, ruthless world.
