Paolo Virzì
Tutta La Vita Davanti

"When I was just a little girl I asked my mother what will I be. Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here's what she said to me..."

There is something strange about Multiple. Certainly, the product it is responsible for sponsoring and selling, a device that supposedly can purify water, might boast rather dubious credibility, bordering on fraud, but it's not just about that. Multiple is far more than a simple company. Employees, strictly divided into women - receptionists and men - clerks, are subjected to a real indoctrination program. Dancing and singing to start the day well, prizes offered for the best worker (evaluated based on the number of clients they manage to catch), department head Daniela always ready to give professional and existential encouragement (like: why are you people...? Special! And you have a job...? Special!). This hell is inextricably linked to the lives of Marta, the protagonist, a philosophy graduate with top marks who also ended up in the depths of Multiple, Sonia, a plebeian nymph, quoting the essay, a young and flighty mother telephonist, Giorgio Conforti, a dreamer trade unionist...

Paolo Virzì has spoiled us, no doubt about it. Already from "Ovosodo," one had to expect ever better, and now that we are (or at least I am) eagerly awaiting his next "La prima cosa bella," we rewatch (or at least I rewatch) "Tutta la vita davanti," the eighth film by the director from Livorno. Based on the novel "il mondo deve sapere" by blogger Michela Murgia, who also collaborated on the screenplay, the film tackles a rather hot topic these days: job insecurity. Marta's story is similar to that of many other young Italians. She leaves her homeland with the best expectations and opts for a field with difficult job prospects; courageous, hopeful, or insane? Unlike some of her colleagues, she doesn't have a wealthy dad but a mother suffering from cancer. The Multiple call center seems to be the only path to take, but luckily, Marta has a brain. And so, while on one side she tries to do her best as a telephone operator, reaching a fair number of seduced clients, Marta begins to reflect on the similarities between Multiple's employees and the contestants of Grande Fratello, in light of Heidegger's thought.

Obviously, Marta and Multiple represent just a starting point, a particular departure to achieve a universal solution. What is the common element among the employees of any company and the contestants of a reality show? Being placed in a reality made of smiles at all costs, of meaningless hilarity and enthusiasm, consciously involved in the dynamics of exploitation, and if someone dares to dissent, they face dismissal - permanent elimination. The infamous and much-hated "house" (By the way, did you know that in the United Kingdom "The Big Brother" has closed its doors? We really are the only ones left in Europe watching it and therefore defending it from ratings declines?) just like Multiple, is a place of repression, where nothing of what one truly is matters, the important thing is to follow a script, to penetrate a fake reality pretending it is real. It's the truth inside the truth. Allow me a comparison, today I write freely. It's a bit like the search for God in Bergman. In "Il silenzio," the tumultuous relationship between the two sisters traveling through a war-devastated land is nothing but a huge metaphor to express the existential anguish generated by having lost oneself in the search for God and the consequent fear of his absence. Similarly, the men and women of Multiple are deluded by a non-existent future, in search of which they have abandoned ambitions and desires, until they lose themselves.

Isabella Ragonese as Marta is impeccable. The Sicilian actress, whose career is beginning to gain momentum (Among the protagonists of "Viola di mare," not to be underestimated) is perfect in the role of the naive and trusting student, brilliantly contrasted with her shrewder boyfriend who, after a degree in physics, leaves for the States, from the radiant beginning, when she happily sits before the examination board, to the final scene, the one of consolatory crying in the arms of an old lady swindled by Multiple. But the levels are high all around. Micaela Ramazzotti delivers a moving interpretation of Sonia, as does Ferilli - Daniela, once again paired with Ghini after "La bella vita," the unionist Valerio Mastandrea and the clerk Lucio, Elio Germano, all characters on the edge, who try in vain to hold back fears, anxieties, worries until they explode in an inevitable delirium (even a murder). Cameo by Caterina Guzzanti.

Let's try not to define this film. For once, let's avoid saying that Virzì is the heir of Italian comedy, because Virzì is true to himself, let's avoid entangling ourselves in acrobatic definitions like black comedy, satirical drama, and the like. This is a film by Virzì, and that's it. A grotesque fairy tale about job insecurity, as the sweet narrative voice of Laura Morante would suggest, a dramatic story that tries to disguise itself as a comedy, obtaining sinister results, a choral, original, and well-thought-out portrait of one of the most urgent current issues. Different stylistic registers are employed, all perfectly balanced. One of the best recent Italian film releases. Thank heavens, we have at least one director with style.

"Que sera sera whatever will be, will be..."