Il consiglio d'Egitto

Eleven years after "Una storia semplice" Emidio Greco directs another filmization of a book by Leonardo Sciascia. In the life Don Giuseppe Vella, translator-forger of an old Arabic document that could mark the end of privileges of the sicilian aristocracy, Sciascia wanted to outline the figure of an opportunist with a personal moral code that pushed him to accelerate the dissolution of a regime of abuse and conservation of the statu quo the wind of change coming from pre-revolutionary France had started already. Emidio Greco maintains faithful to the spirit and the letter of the book and he releases a precise and formally sober film, without useless directorial frills, slowly paced and inspired from an untrendy idea of cinema. It could be tedious for somebody, and a little bit old-fashioned, but for patient viewers the 138 minutes of the film are a careful description of a world in decline which is easy to recall more contemporary issues. Silvio Orlando, one of the best Italian actors of its generation, delivers a good performance as well as Tommaso Ragno in the role of Francesco Paolo Di Blasi. The soundtrack by veteran composer Luis Bacalov also deserves to be praised.

I saw Il Consiglio d'Egitto at the Montreal Film Festival, where it was in the official competition. The fact that this movie was even in the competition puzzles me (and I'm sure it puzzled many others since a lot of people left before the end). A little over two hours, the movie shifts from one plot to the other. The first plot is actually quite interesting and funny but then it is quickly resolved and we are projected into a second, less interesting plot. There might have been a third plot coming, but I left before falling asleep.