Nanni Moretti
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If I remember correctly, it was Tolstoy who wrote that while all happy families resemble each other, unhappy families are different in their own ways. This is more or less the thought that came to my mind watching Nanni Moretti's latest film titled "Three Floors." Presented at the last Cannes Festival, it didn't receive any awards, and there was no shortage of controversy about it, considering the recognition given to other films.

Without getting into the merits (as "Titane," awarded the Palme d'Or, has not yet been distributed), the fact remains that Moretti's latest work consistently continues the director's critical discourse about a certain bourgeois mentality (or petit-bourgeois) prevalent in modern society. The only novelty, if anything, is that it takes inspiration from the novel "Three Floors" by Israeli author Eshkol Nevo. The setting is the only variation: no longer a building in a residential district of Tel Aviv but rather an elegant three-story building located in the Prati district of Rome. Otherwise, the family units residing there are equally middle-class, united by various existential troubles that, while not apparent in public, make them nonetheless unhappy.

Indeed, seeing them absorbed in their daily troubles, one would not want to be in their shoes. There's the couple of prominent magistrates who have much to worry about as they follow their now adult son, who is in constant conflict with his parents. Due to reckless driving, he hits and kills a woman, resulting in legal troubles and estrangement from home. Another couple, meanwhile, occasionally entrusting their little daughter to a slightly unhinged neighbor suspected of latent pedophilia, will face incredible legal troubles. And, just to complete the dismal picture, there's a young woman, a new mother and somewhat psychologically unstable, whose husband, due to work reasons, is sometimes away from home.

All these stories compose a picture of modern alienation and coldness in interpersonal relationships, and the film's ending that unfolds is not consoling. Even if one looks beyond one's apartment and steps outside, it's not guaranteed that one will find just an incredible group of people engaged in a tango competition. One might also witness an attack by xenophobic hooligans on a hostel for foreign refugees, with stones and Molotov cocktails barely contained by riot police.

In short, what Moretti conveys in this latest work is that we live in a difficult and troubled historical phase. And it is laughable to think that locking oneself in one's apartment will resolve everything according to the saying "home, sweet home." This bourgeois illusion doesn't account for external social tensions that, driven out the door, re-enter through the window. Thus, it's necessary to leave behind that bourgeois respectability that sweeps problems under the rug and aim to broaden our perspective, perhaps helping each other in order to save ourselves (a very relevant lesson in these pandemic times).

Finally, it's worth noting that even in this film, the actors directed by Moretti perform at the best of their abilities (among them Buy, Rohrwacher, Scamarcio). And then there's Nanni himself, who has always been a guarantee from the beginning. Here it is striking to see him in the role of a strict and rigorous magistrate, yet unable to have a sincere dialogue with his problematic son. If I think back to his early films where he played the student Apicella, politically left-wing, I conclude that many decades have passed. But Nanni Moretti maintains, even in this role in "Three Floors," a consistently rigorous attitude and invites us to take our due responsibilities.