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THE REVIEW
The world where God is dead and everything is permitted. Religions and morals have been destroyed. This time by poverty, the boredom of unemployment, by what in existence is aesthetically ugly, repugnant, obsessive, and meaningless.
In short: filth has killed God.
The "last men," like vultures, feast in rags on the advancing nothingness with smiles and diabolical raspberries. Illuminating, in this sense, is the scene of the lustful Palermo men who, in the first episode, line up to go to an ugly and large prostitute.
However, women do not exist. Female beauty has been banned by the brutality of non-living daily life, and the only forms of carnality remaining are masturbation, homosexuality, and coupling with animals.
A small introduction to three grotesque episodes involving a young man blinded by sex, a homosexual couple, and a prophet (Totò) who seems to be a Jesus coming from the Apocalypse of John.
In these three murky stories, other tales intersect. There is, for example, the short story of a madman who fell in love with a hen. His only companion in erotic games.
A portrait of earthly infernal circles. Those created by a sinister Demiurge. An unprecedented punch to the stomach.
The black&white well describes what I have called non-life or, better yet, inauthentic existence. An existence not chosen and lived with extreme degradation.
In the end, however, a sort of redemption arrives. The main characters of the film are crucified, and it seems that their useless living, their existential torment, finds an end.
But degraded and degrading habits continue to accompany us: the three are not killed, but rather exposed to public ridicule and, subsequently, presumably abandoned on the three wooden crosses (or papier-mâché?).
Film by Ciprì and Maresco shot in 1998. It scandalized many "pious souls" but, honestly, only certain works by Pier Paolo Pasolini have managed to be so realistic, frank, and raw.
Watch to believe.
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Summary by Bot
Totò Che Visse Due Volte is a dark, surreal film by Ciprì and Maresco exploring a world where God is dead and human existence is grotesque and degraded. Through three disturbing episodes, the film portrays poverty, lost morality, and obscure sexuality in a black-and-white visual style. The film challenges viewers with raw imagery reminiscent of Pier Paolo Pasolini's works. Despite its disturbing nature, it culminates with a disturbing form of redemption.
