A Estranheza de Amar

Maybe honesty is the basic virtue of this film about teenagers, their love, about Sicily and answers to what can not be accepted .

It is a film of details, landscapes, people, tastes, colors, forms of seduction and intimancy.

And , in same measure, it is an admirable expression of freshness , from acting to dialogue, from the moments of pure happiness to clashes in so many senses.

A true story sounds, foer many reasons, a good kick to see it. But Stranizza d amuri has the precious gift to be an universal story, out of gay case, out of a place from Europe, out of cliches or melodrama.

In many senses, a simple confession about love, people and rules of a land.

In the words of its director, Giuseppe Fiorello, a veteran actor here making his first film as director, "Fireworks" is a reimagining of a true, and tragic, event that occurred in a an emotionally straitened Sicily in the early 1980s. At the U. S. premiere this afternoon at Film at Lincoln Center, he stated that he made it not from any generic ambition to become a director, but from an urgent need to tell this specific story, and to tell it sincerely and without any genre encumberments - there is no post-facto investigation of the events, and no trial of the accused - only the events themselves, as seen mainly through the eyes of the two young protagonists, Gabriele Pizzuru and Samuele Segreto, who are both magnificent in their openness and spontaneity. Fiorello wanted, he said, to make this film to be about, above all, the "delicacy of adolescence" ("and we all have been adolescents," he added), and in achieving this, he chose well.

The tale unfolds in small-town Sicily, at a time of Vespas, lire, and bellbottoms, with the 1982 FIFA World Cup as background (Italy's victories, played out locally on ancient TV screens, punctuate the action). While there are a few lovely seashore settings, this is not the Sicily of postcards, of the streets and cathedrals of Palermo or the majesty of Mt. Etna. This is a place where the earth is bruised by a huge quarry and where there is constant censure and bullying by a community of small minds, the better to enforce a stifling conformity, drawing on Mafia thugs to beat it into errant neighbors if all else fails. All this is portrayed by an ensemble cast that includes what seem like quite a few local amateurs. (For greater authenticity, the film is in the Sicilian language, with only occasional, and brief, code shifts into Italian - even the original title, "Stranizza d'amure", is in Sicilian. I assume the film must have been shown in Italy with subtitles.) In the Q&A, the still very boyish leads emphasized how working as part of such a collective of more experienced actors was deeply enriching.

There are sequences that seem a bit overstaged (again, this is a début film), but this matters less and less as the boys meet by accident (literally, in a motorbike collision - too cute? Possibly, but very nicely done), and form an instant friendship that moves on to what,, in this setting, becomes far more perilous. Gianni is absorbed into Nino's welcoming extended family, and eventually joins Nino in his father's fireworks business (hence the English title). The intensity of all the many intersecting relationships increases bit by bit, reaching an almost unbearable level, until the hammer blows of local reality strike unforgivingly.

Bring plenty of Kleenex for this one, but, with its powerful social and dramatic subtext, the film is something far more moving and meaningful than any simple weepy could ever be. Is it a bit operatic? Yes, for sure, but, as at the end of any decent performance of Mascagni's Sicilian masterpiece, you wipe away your tears and jump up to shout Bravo - as the audience this afternoon indeed did. May the fickle gods of U. S. distribution get this terrific gem onto as many screens as possible!

A movie of sadness, joy, struggle, heartbreak, betrayal... it captivates the heart and mind through a most difficult time in Sicilian society in the 1980's. The enormous love shared by two won out over the ridicule and rejection of others. Watch this movie, it might be just above a snails pace at times, but overall is worth the time.

Gabriele Pizzurro and Samuele Segreto do an outstanding job in acting and the subtle expressions that make the movie so believable... then when you learn its based on a true story, it leaves you contemplating it for days. Very touching...

You will enjoy this movie very much.

As a Sicilian who was 13 during the World Cup, I find incredible levels of authenticity together with a representation of the places and of the social relationship that resembles more the 50s than the 80s. Nevertheless this film has given me real emotions, and appreciate the effort not to sugarcoat anything. But the story between the boys is so real and intense, and so delicate, didn't really need to have a brutal background to come forward. Maybe it was all like that, but that would have been a bit of an outlier, the place where the facts happened is a tourist destination and a commercial hub. Yet I've given 10 because in some places and at some time every single piece of land, language, dialogue, emotions, behaviour would have been real, and they are all portrayed magnificently.

AUTHENTIC CHRONICLE OF A FATEFUL LOVE AFFAIR OF YESTERDAY IN THE PRESENT TIME

Italy doesn't currently stand out on the global independent scene (much less the LGBT+ scene), and that's a shame, since, along with the French, they were the pioneers of independent cinema. They have a rich and abundant history of works, many of which are cult titles around the world. But here we have perhaps a future cult work. I hope I'm not mistaken.

We have a film based on real events, about a love affair that began in the last century, in the early 1980s, where its characters wander through a town in southern Italy (which still stands out for its prominent conservatism today), going back and forth between circumstances that anyone could easily identify with. The plot itself, while widely touched upon in independent cinema (and practically a standard) with thousands of films that have already addressed this subject of first love, here the optics and perspective are totally different from other films with similar plots.

There are no stereotypes here. And if there are any, they are minimal and necessary for the work. The director (as far as I know, this is his debut film) was quite emphatic in showing us the somewhat atypical perspective of the characters, never overstepping or focusing on those who, narrowly, attack, and this is so evident even in the most tense scenes. This treatment is subtle, as if this film were a powerful denunciation of the hypocrisy of Italian society at that time (and which still persists in various places in Italy) and, why not, in Europe and the world. A kind of protest film, albeit sweetly crafted so that the casual viewer wouldn't be scared or bored, although its pace is somewhat slow, it was necessary because the director wanted to take the time to show, with the patience of a monk, the daily lives of his protagonists. This was so evident at the end. It seems you have to guess what happened or assume it. Or better yet, investigate the real case on which the film was based (interestingly, its director is originally from Sicily, where the events actually occurred).

The performances were sublime. From what I could see, the actors are natural. This gives it a unique and unrepeatable tone of spontaneity. This, combined with the excellent production, direction, and stunning photography (as if a nod to the Argentine scene, so distinctive for its rich photography), makes this film a modern gem, which hopefully will elevate Italian cinema to the status it once held. There are examples.

Perhaps if this film were made during the same time as the legendary and controversial Pier Paulo Pasolini, the consequences would be similar to those of the director of this film. Perhaps with that precedent, he shows off a delicate and well-crafted film to, as I already mentioned, make a subtle but powerful protest against this hypocritical society that condemns plausible things but ignores more worrying facts.

If you're looking for a very interesting film to watch, for a truly memorable weekend... you might even weep your eyes until you get there, this will be the film for you.

The title of my review was taken from the song "Demasiado Corazón" by Willie Colón.