Ermanno Olmi
Cento Chiodi

I watched: "CENTO CHIODI" by Ermanno Olmi: an absolute masterpiece!!!!!

A painful and truthful fresco on the decay of our times... The West ontologically has in it the sunset... and everyone somewhat chews this sadness connected to the fading sun, which disturbs and deepens... And then the barbarization of this historical moment is so evident... that it becomes even more of a sign of an accentuated and hopefully reversible regression... Ermanno's work clarifies how things stand, almost immediately, with a boulder citation from the German philosopher Karl Jaspers, put in the mouth and thoughts of Raz Degan: "EVERY SPIRITUAL THING IS CONVERTED INTO PROFIT"... Raz reveals himself as a good actor, despite any reservations one might have about the character, in a well-executed and surpassed performance.... The bearded and christlike Degan, in the role of a philosophy professor, becomes the perpetrator of a misdeed.... He buys a couple of boxes of ultra-robust and devastating nails and, with an artistic staging, crucifies the ancient books of the university library, a true gem and treasure chest of knowledge.. A "cupio dissolvi" that sets the tone for his escape from the cultured, hyper-organized, and efficient civilization, seemingly....

Brilliant and promising luminary, the protagonist, abandons his BMW on the banks of the Po and throws into the scant waters below, like a true new initiatory baptism, all the trappings of the post-modern. He occupies a dilapidated building along the riverbank... and goes in search of a meaning to give to his life.... He retains as an umbilical cord a credit card and the PC; nowadays, it's computer science that ties us to existence as people, nothing else... In the beautiful fireplace that dominates the center of his new habitat, he burns the treatise that was supposed to accredit him in the high ranks of modern thinkers... Slowly it transmutes into sparks, a small and symbolic pyre reminiscent of more explosive heresies, his "Dynamic Thought and Methodology" philosophical exercise of sure success... Salvific auto-da-fé and liberator from superstructural and academic chains... And here appear the true inhabitants of this rural village named Bagnolo S Vito who, recognizing the stature of the character, like apostles gather around him... Beautiful are the faces of these "natural" and self-reciting padani, with vaguely Guccinian physiognomies. Among rural festivities and friendship... time passes, never in vain... Throughout the film, a poignant leitmotif returns: "Non ti scordar di me"... A bucolic song from yesteryear when intentions were truly naive and simple... With "Soprani" accordions or chromatic harmonicas, it's all a "Non ti scordar di me"....

In one of these outdoor evenings, similar to dehor dance halls, the motif is taken up by a tour boat that flows titanic below, loaded with lights and beautiful people... Among the astonished silence of those present, Antonello Salis and the Milesian trumpet of Paolo Fresu stand out recognizable... But this empirical Platonic idea of beauty and simplicity, do you think it can last? Even in the most hidden and isolated corners, the "Leviathan" is lurking.

I'll leave you to imagine how it will end because THIS MORAL OPERETTA, THIS APOLOGUE OF CELLULOID... YOU HAVE TO GO SEE IT!!! Surely, intuiting it by just reading is not enough? I'd like to point out a remarkable exchange of lines. The Degan Christ, questioned by the Carabinieri marshal investigating the attack on the books, is asked if it was him and responds - "Yes."... To the question of why? The reply is: - "It was a moral obligation" -... and when the increasingly amazed man in uniform suggests if he's part of some subversive group... he receives a nice - "Yes, I served in the teaching corps"... Well, any comment is superfluous!! Olmi is a true master, and his work as a cinema craftsman always bears fruit... It's a shame he declared this to be his last film.. For all, it would be a grave loss!!! As Easter approaches, find time to see it (in a broad sense... it's also the right moment). It will give you a thousand stimuli and reasons to reflect and will prove to be a tonic for your mind... I quickly jotted down these notes driven by the visual experience... Who knows how many things could have been presented better and how many others I have forgotten and neglected?

But there's one thing I want to emphasize... I talked this morning with Grass about Ravel's trio in G... Well, Ermanno used it to musically counterpoint, as it should be, crucial passages in the narrative... When you say coincidence!!!!