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Rating: Roberto Andò, after the interesting Viva la libertà, once again explores the world of politics but decides to raise the stakes by moving from an Italian reality to an international dimension.
There is a hotel, there is a summit organized by Daniel Roché (Daniel Auteil), director of the International Monetary Fund, attended by the world's greatest heads of state.
They meet to establish a broad economic maneuver that could bring epochal changes and perhaps completely destroy some countries from an economic-financial point of view…
Roché invites, for some reason, also a mediocre pop musician, a very famous children's book author, and a mysterious Carthusian monk, Roberto Salus (Tony Servillo).
After the welcome dinner, Roché asks the monk to come to his room; he intends to confess, but a terrible event, an unexpected tragedy, will completely disrupt the plan (the maneuver), and the monk will be the sole keeper of the truth, known through confession…
This is the prologue.
It is an ambitious, elegant film with magnificent cinematography (Maurizio Calvesi, the same from Non essere cattivo) and splendid music by Nicola Piovani.
It is a strict, formal, slow, and mysterious film.
Two worlds will clash.
Two opposing and rather incompatible forces.
On one side, the world of high finance, economy, money, and power.
On the other, the monk's world made of silence and prayer.
Material world against spiritual world.
It is a philosophical, metaphysical, verbose film, but not in a negative sense. Rather, it is fitting to say, THE WORD is another protagonist. Many phrases struck me in this film, and they are mostly from the monk. Sometimes they are responses, sometimes questions, sometimes judgments…
Once again, Servillo proves to be a great actor by playing the part of this mysterious and imperturbable monk, who moves around with a portable recorder to capture the sounds of nature, particularly bird calls.
Not everything works in my opinion, as the film sometimes turns in on itself, sometimes doesn't know quite which direction to take. However, despite the excessive and intentional slowness, the film is successful and almost never boring.
It is a magnetic film.
Go to the cinema without hesitation.
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