Enigmatico

Saverio Costanzo, “In Gaza only darkness and fear are real”
Private - Di Saverio Costanzo ( 2004 )

Some films are able to endure over time. Private (2004), the debut of director Saverio Costanzo, is, unfortunately or fortunately, one of them. The film is based on a true and highly relevant story: the home of a Palestinian professor, Mohammad, is occupied by a group of Israeli soldiers. Mohammad, together with his family, chooses not to leave the house, opting for a silent, non-violent resistance. Saverio Costanzo presents the story in a raw, universal manner. With this film, he won the Golden Leopard at Locarno in 2004. Private was shown again during the twenty-ninth edition of the Umbria Film Festival...

Saverio Costanzo, «a Gaza solo il buio e la paura sono reali» | il manifesto Edition of July 16, 2025

The director recounts his debut “Private” about the Israeli occupation, presented again at the Umbria Film Festival
“In this house lives a large Palestinian Muslim family—father, mother, and several children.
A quiet life, without upheavals, though with fear for what is happening around them, and for what one day might also shatter their existence.

This comes true when a group of Israeli soldiers bursts into the house and decides to use it as an outpost, occupying the upper floor and leaving the family only the kitchen, which becomes a kind of prison-room.

A revelation at the latest Locarno Film Festival (Golden Leopard), Saverio Costanzo’s film has the undeniable merit of being able to depict the dynamics of a perpetual conflict by observing its most hidden, intimate aspects; it is the particular that becomes universal because, as we know, not only is the story of the film true, but it could have happened an infinite number of times, or may happen again.

Private transcends any form of moral commentary, focusing on the situation itself, on the (tremendous) psychological consequences it provokes in the characters, especially the children, closely observing steady and resolute faces (never expressionless), with a deliberately and exemplarily contrasted and grainy cinematography.

A (hyper)realist style, making broad use of handheld camera, in the clear attempt to pull the viewer inside that house, experiencing a clash which, little by little, becomes more and more difficult to endure.

And Private lets glimpse, between the lines, even a faint hint, nothing more than a truncated sketch, at the possibility of a dialogue, of an encounter between two cultures that often seem unable to come to terms, even when they might want to; a leftover of humanity among the soldiers, a flash of acquiescence from the head of the family’s young daughter toward them.

Then everything returns to how it was, with the soldiers leaving as they came, the family trying to resume its life, after having peacefully, resolutely defended their home.

But the ending is harrowing; the shadow of repetition attualissima:

Date Al Diavolo Un Bimbo Per Cena the title would refer to the child-eaters from Sir Philip Pullman’s 1995 novel "Northern Lights," released in Italy as "La Bussola D'Oro" (among other things, in 2007 the book was adapted into the film "The Golden Compass" starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, and the legendary Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee), while the unmistakable bass line was recreated by Saturnino following the style of "Billie Jean," reminiscent of Michael Jackson.

"Giova a me jova a te jova a tutti quelli che
Ci vogliono stare dentro
Alla periferia di nessun centro
1 per il sesso 2 per la cicogna
3 per il ruscello 4 per la fogna
Io sono l'MC il cerimoniere
Sono la metresse
Sono il pasticcere
Giova a me jova a te jova a tutti quelli che
Ci vogliono stare dentro
Alla periferia di nessun centro
Sono a metà strada nella selva oscura
1 per la tecnica, 2 per la natura
Cerco il mio Virgilio
Morto di overdose
Cerco la beatrice ma oggi ha le sue cose
Cica cica bum ho una cicatrice
Sembra un tatuaggio sai che cosa dice
Fin qui tutto bene quindi procediamo
1 per il pesce, 2 per l'amo
Sono il pescatore a mia volta pescato
Sono il peccatore e sono il peccato
Chi inventò il dubbio che gli spaccò il culo
Si sta così bene quando si é al sicuro
Faccia sotto al sole verità in tasca
Come un pesce d'allevamento dentro una vasca
Crescere é un problema disse il bonsai
Il baobab rispose accontentati di quello che hai
Chissà perché rispose il piccoletto
Sono sempre i grandi a fare il pistolotto
Uno per il baobab due per il bonsai
Tre per chi sempre quattro per chi mai
Jova a me jova a te giova a tutti quelli che
Ci voglion stare dentro
Cica cica bum altra cicatrice
Sembra un tatuaggio sai che cosa dice
Fin qui tutto bene quindi andiamo avanti
Uno per chi pochi due per chi tanti
Date al diavolo un bimbo per cena uno due tre ragazzini
Date al diavolo un bimbo per cena dieci cento mille bambini
Luce stroboscopica lampada di Wood
Verbi irregolari understand understood
Danze figurate marce militari
Uno per la polvere due per gli altari
Io sono una piazza io sono una strada
Io sono il cavallo io sono la biada
Io sono nessuno tranne per qualcuno
E tra un pasto e l'altro, per protesta digiuno
Onda dopo onda cambio il mio contorno
Io sono la pizza io sono il forno
Troppa pastasciutta mi può strangolare
Troppa informazione mi fa sragionare
Troppa libertà mi ha fatto inceppare
Troppa verità mi ha fatto impazzire
Io sono Clark Kent, sono Superman
Ho i superpoteri quanto parte la jam
Il mondo é la mia casa il cielo é il mio tetto
Ho perso le chiavi sto qui fuori e aspetto
Guardo dentro al buco pezzi di nirvana
Fuggo da un eterno finesettimana
Uno per lo yoga due per la scintilla
Tre per l'antibiotico quattro per la villa
Giova a me jova a te giova a tutti quelli che
Credo in un solo Dio madre onnipotente
Creatore di chi crede e di chi non é credente
Uno per l'orient

allen ginsberg - holy (music)

Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!
Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy! Holy!
The world is holy! The soul is holy! The skin is holy!
The nose is holy! The tongue and cock and hand
and asshole holy!
Everything is holy! everybody's holy! everywhere is
holy! everyday is in eternity! Every man's an
angel!
The bum's as holy as the seraphim! the madman is
holy as you my soul are holy!
The typewriter is holy the poem is holy the voice is
holy the hearers are holy the ecstasy is holy!
Holy Peter holy Allen holy Solomon holy Lucien holy
Kerouac holy Huncke holy Burroughs holy Cas-
sady holy the unknown buggered and suffering
beggars holy the hideous human angels!
Holy my mother in the insane asylum! Holy the cocks
of the grandfathers of Kansas!
Holy the groaning saxophone! Holy the bop
apocalypse! Holy the jazzbands marijuana
hipsters peace & junk & drums!
Holy the solitudes of skyscrapers and pavements! Holy
the cafeterias filled with the millions! Holy the
mysterious rivers of tears under the streets!
Holy the lone juggernaut! Holy the vast lamb of the
middle class! Holy the crazy shepherds of rebell-
ion! Who digs Los Angeles IS Los Angeles!
Holy New York Holy San Francisco Holy Peoria &
Seattle Holy Paris Holy Tangiers Holy Moscow
Holy Istanbul!
Holy time in eternity holy eternity in time holy the
clocks in space holy the fourth dimension holy
the fifth International holy the Angel in Moloch!
Holy the sea holy the desert holy the railroad holy the
locomotive holy the visions holy the hallucina-
tions holy the miracles holy the eyeball holy the
abyss!
Holy forgiveness! mercy! charity! faith! Holy! Ours!
bodies! suffering! magnanimity!
Holy the supernatural extra brilliant intelligent
kindness of the soul!

Les Vampires (1915–16) by Louis Feuillade - French Silent Crime Serial Film(with English Intertitle)

Les Vampires is a silent French crime serial film written and directed by Louis Feuillade, released between 1915 and 1916. Set in Paris, it stars Édouard Mathé, Musidora, and Marcel Lévesque. The main characters are a journalist and his friend who are engaged in trying to discover and stop a strange underground gang of Apaches, known as the Vampires (who are not the mythological beings their name suggests).

The series consists of ten episodes, which vary significantly in length.

It lasts approximately 7 hours and is considered one of the longest films ever made.

It was produced and distributed by Feuillade's Gaumont company.

Due to their stylistic similarities with Feuillade's other crime series, Fantômas and Judex, all three are often considered a trilogy.

Fresh off the success of Feuillade's previous series, Fantômas, and facing competition from the rival company Pathé, Feuillade produced the film quickly and cheaply with minimal written script.

At its initial release, Les Vampires received negative reviews from critics for its questionable morality and lack of cinematic techniques compared to other films.

However, it was a tremendous success with its wartime audience, which turned Musidora into a star of French cinema.

Since then, the film has been reevaluated, and many consider it Feuillade's masterpiece and a cinematic gem.

It is known for developing thriller techniques, later adopted by Alfred Hitchcock and Fritz Lang; and for advancing avant-garde cinema, inspiring Luis Buñuel and others.

It is included in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and... well, not really, just for true enthusiasts!