Pier Francesco Boscaro Dagli Ambrosi
L'Inceneritore

I approached this film after hearing about it in some videos dedicated to Richard Benson, who plays a small role in "L'Inceneritore" and especially takes care of the soundtrack. Many vicissitudes are linked to the film by Pier Francesco Boscaro dagli Ambrosi, which seems to have had funding of some billions of lire, including public money, only to not even be distributed in cinemas. Inexplicably, especially since it had been presented at the Venice Film Festival, with some positive reviews, among other things. After almost forty years and after various attempts to release it (including some protests by the director, including a climb on the Colosseum), the film is available online, although in rather poor quality (it would be nice to see it one day in better conditions).

The film is a grotesque concoction of genres, between trash and experimental, with auteur ambitions. Set in Padua, there are murders that serve as a backdrop to the lives of some strange characters, with surreal and often disjointed situations. "L'Inceneritore" has several problems, various naiveties, a narrative that is not cohesive at all, things that happen without an apparent sense, but I watched it with a certain curiosity and not everything is to be discarded. Some scenes are impactful, like the apocalyptic finale, which to tell the truth comes a bit out of nowhere, without there being steps that make it totally justifiable, but by abandoning oneself to the general anarchy, it is pure hypnotic delirium, incredibly well-set to music by Richard Benson. With the right proportions, the film could be called a trashy Fellini, with leaps towards Dario Argento and situations reminiscent of the dirty Italian comedies of the '70s. It is no coincidence that director Boscaro claims to have collaborated with maestro Fellini, and although one does not see the genius of the author of "Amarcord," in "L'Inceneritore," one glimpses a taste for the surreal and the desire to do something different.

In the cast of actors, almost all unknown, the great Flavio Bucci, recently deceased, and the talented Ida Di Benedetto stand out.

It would have been curious to see it released in cinemas and eventually on tape. Would it have flopped? Probably. But despite the production problems, the film was more or less completed. Who knows, maybe it would have been a small (s)cult and certainly would have had its niche audience.