The Consequences
of Love (***1/2)
review by Jon
Waterman
Titta lives quietly in a large, upscale hotel. He spends most
of his days alone, in the same old seat, silently observing
and memorizing all he can about his fellow regulars. Occasionally
someone will come up to him and try to figure out his story.
He claims that “Truth is boring,” however in his
case, it’s anything but. His secret is that he has been
roped in by the Mob to run suitcases and launder money. To
reveal such information could mean his death, but…well,
the title speaks for itself.
From the long opening shot of a young man carrying a briefcase
on an uninhabited airport moving walkway, you get the sense
that you’re watching a sophisticated film. The cinematography
by Luca Bigazzi takes a 180 degree turn from his previous work
in “I Like
to Work (Mobbing)" while remaining equally
effective. The visuals maintain the classy nature of Titta
and the environment in which he has been placed. To give a
basic example, there’s a shot of Titta in the hotel elevator
that happens to contain a mirror. The mirror frames his reflection
in such a way as to create an elegant snapshot portrait of
the most well known (and least known) man in the building.
The compositions and camera work/movements are frequent, yet
understated. They enhance the emotional impact of the scenes
rather than dictate them.
The actors carry the brunt of that burden, and they do so
quite well. Toni Servillo plays the introspective Titta brilliantly.
Not only does his body language speak louder than the relatively
small amount of dialogue delivered, but he also understands
how to fully utilize beats and rhythm fearlessly. The whole
movie keeps the audience guessing, but one look at the expressions
on Titta’s face or on the bartender Sofia (played by
Olivia Magnani), and we can at least know exactly how they’re
feeling even if we don’t know why.
Paolo Sorrentino has written and directed a sparse, yet intriguing
and entertaining film. I may not be able to fully understand
the attraction of Sofia to Titta, or why the great music was
given such intrusively abrupt cues, but these are minor issues
when the rest of the movie works so incredibly well. The pace
could potentially drag for some people (the guy sitting next
to me let out some sighs and did the watch check), but there
are several incredible shots and the ending couldn’t
be any more perfect. I can’t wait to see what Sorrentino
does next.
respond to jon@filmbrats.com
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