Quo Vadis, Baby?

Quo Vadis (Where are we going), Baby, is a pretty good contemporary noir story.

Angela Baraldi does a great job as Giorgia, the central character whose sister committed suicide many years ago. The arrival of a box full of video tapes initiates opening of old memories and old wounds. Ada is not seen as suicidal, but the holes in the story start to fill in nicely, with surprises constantly causing one to re-evaluate the "who done it" question.

Despite plot development being primary we get nicely tuned views of Giorgia, her sister Ada, their father Il Capitano and other players.

The cinematography is a bit dull, but not distracting. Even with subtitles I thought the dialog was interesting and carried forward the plot and character development.

The ending is very Indie, with surprises to be had and with some thinking to be done. Definitely worth a watch.

Just yesterday I saw "Io non ho paura", from this Italian director (Salvatores), and I wrote a commentary saying that it was one of the best movies I've ever seen.

That's why today I picked up another movie from the same director, "Quo Vadis Baby", but this time I'm afraid I must say this one is one of the worse movies I've ever saw.

Why this dichotomy from one and the same man? Making movies is a very difficult task. Nobody makes a movie thinking that he/she is making a bad movie of course. One thinks that the new movie will be the best ever.

But in the way something goes awry --nobody knows exactly what-- and the picture is ruined. Like making a soufflé. Hit or miss. Well, more was lost (from the Spanish point of view, of course) with the Cuban war --Spain versus USA back in the 19th century--, but in this particular case, I lost a couple of precious hours that will never recoup again.

All the ingredients were there, good actors, good camera work, good everything --good direction!!-- but the patient was dead.

But I wont give up! no siree..., they have another three titles by this director at the Dante Alighieri Mediateca here in Buenos Aires, and I will see them all, no matter what.

Maybe one of the other titles is as good as "Io non ho paura" and that will be worth the effort.

See this movie anyhow, it induces a very pleasant dozing effect.

A noir of the soul so to say. That's how I would define Salvatores' latest movie. I loved the character of Giorgia, that non-politically correct 40 years old lady who smokes, drinks, is single and tries to live through her past and fears. She's a private investigator and her hardest task is to investigate into the suicide of her sister Ada, 16 years earlier. Salvatores enters the heart of both women and let us see their dreams, fears and lies around the death of one of them. Angela Baraldi (Giorgia) is particularly brilliant and astonishing. You can't take your eyes off of her. The atmosphere is very intense and that is emphasized by the excellent soundtrack of the movie. Very poignant.

I would say that "Quo Vadis Baby?" is a good movie for different reasons. First of all the setting: Bologna, an Italian medieval city that, with its tiny streets and arches, is the right city where to set a Noir movie. Plus the photography is good, delivering the idea of a gloomy atmosphere both in the outdoor scenes and in the indoor ones. A change in the light of the photography can be noted when the main character, Giulia goes to Rome to investigate about her Sister's death, giving the idea of a city that could give her some straight answers to her doubts. The characters are well developed and credible and the plot is nicely built since it gives little by little hints to the viewer of the future development and about the possible culprit. However I would have expected a more unexpected ending and this is the main flaw of this movie.

About the ending, don't worry I won't ruin a thing! In fact, all I'll say is it's one of the most visually creative and illuminating conclusions I've ever seen. A picture within a picture within a picture...

Now about the music. I realize I'm speaking to a very tight demographic, but if you were alive & remotely hip in the 70s, you will love the music in this movie. That goes double for Salvatores' film DENTI which he did a few years before this one. Deep Purple, Procol Harum, Ultravox, Talking Heads, and a slew of other great bands add an undeniably cool atmosphere to his films and fill you with the uncontrollable urge to go digging through your closets for those old albums that everyone has forgotten.

Why am I dwelling on music when this is a movie we're talking about? It's because the music is so indicative of the director's mastery of the material presented. We can argue all day over how clever the plot is, but I prefer to focus on presentation. And as always, Salvatores delivers right on key.

The mood is perfect. The characters are memorable & original (the lead role is a rebellious, no-nonsense, 40ish woman which would put her right smack in the middle of the 70s demographic I mentioned above), and you want to talk about visuals? The lighting alone should have won a dozen awards. It's a dark film, but notice how the characters are always vividly illuminated, with no annoying shadows or dark spots on their faces. The light source is elusive as if it's actually radiating from the actors' faces; that's how good lighting is done on the screen or in an oil painting. It's creates a very surreal and visually compelling style which Salvatores has embraced in his last 10 years of film-making, and it's what keeps me coming back for more.

As with DENTI (imo his masterpiece), this movie seems to have been mostly overlooked and largely misunderstood (note the relatively low ratings on IMDb... but since when has IMDb's ratings been representative of good taste?). But if you're a fan of modern surrealism, check it out. (By "modern surrealism", I'm not referring to Buñuel (what I call "classical absurdist surrealism") but rather Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Tom Tykwer or Jim Jarmusch--directors who create vivid, dreamlike visuals while staying rooted in a rational plot. I'd even include Hitchcock in the list.)

If any of this review struck a chord with you, then I bet you'll enjoy the movie. If, on the other hand, you're sitting there saying "wtf?" (yeah I get that a lot), then I'm pretty sure you should move on and look for another film. Good luck either way.