Bad Tales

"Favolacce" is undoubtably a good movie, thanks to the inspired screenplay, the anxious score, the solid acting and the frustrating direction. And I say frustrating because the D'Innocenzo's brothers intentionally chose the camera angles that were the less adapt to the scenes in order to provoke a sense of discomfort in the viewer. And this discomfort is what the movie leaves after the credits, a general bitterness for what happened in it. The complaint I have, that is the reason why I didn't love it, is the setting. The ultra degraded suburb filled with pessimistic, poor and angry people similar to the one represented in "Dogman" is excessive and distant from the actual reality. And I'm not saying there aren't difficult situations but here is a bit too extreme and I felt a certain detachment from the characters because they really felt fictional to me (maybe the only one that I perceived as plausible is the one played by Elio Germano). And probably it actually was the intention of the filmmakers in order to tell some tales, as the title suggests, but I would have liked it more if the context was more real and then I think that what happens in the movie would have hit me a lot harder than it did. In conclusion "Favolacce" is good, surely a fine watch, but the level of appreciation you will feel is correlated to how much you will buy its setting and its characters.

Seen at Berlinale 2020, it is a film that looks at the relationships between parents and children. There is a lot going on in this little Italian suburb, but one thing is for sure, the parents make much more noise than the children. It is a story about growing up or never managing to do so. Worth seeing.

It's a good movie. Plot is well worked but they didn't really make the best of it. Dialogues are solid. All together it's a good movie but not as good as it could've been.

This Italian Swiss TV coproduction with Sky TV won a screenplay award at the Berlin Film Festival. We saw it in a group of cinephiles. In the discussion afterwards we could not find one reason how this could have been possible. Maybe every other film in the contest was written worse, but that is hard to imagine. Maybe the jury wanted to play a practical joke. Even the narrator in the film apologizes for the senslessness and boredom of these random and badly written script. Any of the scenes could have been replaced with any other. It makes no difference. It was sad to witness how the art of film has deteriorated both in the making and in a venue of appreciation that once held some prestige. Nice cinematography though, one star for that and one for casting.

In an atmosphere shrouded in the gray banality of the Roman outskirts, "Favolacce" by the D'Innocenzo Brothers offers a raw and uncompromising look into the lives of some families grappling with their own frustrations and contradictions. It's not a masterpiece, but rather a film that manages to capture some peculiarities of the human condition with a certain degree of effectiveness. The portrayal of family dynamics, laden with tensions made palpable by tight dialogues and direction unafraid to explore the darkest corners of the human psyche, is one of the film's most intriguing elements. Despite their evident dysfunctionality, the characters manage to evoke a certain empathy in the viewer, thanks also to the strong performances of the cast. However, "Favolacce" is not without its flaws. The narrative, while incisive and direct, risks at times to be too raw and lacking in nuances, leaving little room for the complexity of the characters and their relationships. Some scenes, moreover, might come off as overly verbose or repetitive, diluting the emotional impact of the situations depicted. Nevertheless, the film still manages to keep the viewer engaged until the end, thanks also to its ability to provoke reflections and debates on universal themes such as love, family, and the very meaning of human existence. While not a perfect work, "Favolacce" stands out for its audacity and frankness in depicting the brutality of everyday life, without seeking easy consolations or pre-packaged solutions."Favolacce" proves to be a good film, with its peculiarities and its flaws. Despite not reaching peaks of excellence, it still manages to offer an interesting and provocative look into human nature, inviting the viewer to reflect on their own choices and relationships. A must-see for those in search of an intense and stimulating cinematic experience.