Tom Ford
Animali Notturni

(Spoiler)

I haven't read the novel (Tony and Susan by Austin Wright, for the record) from which Ford drew inspiration for his second film, so I can't make direct comparisons with the original source (which, in reality, wouldn't have interested me much anyway), but right from the start, cinematically speaking, Nocturnal Animals stands out as one of the most interesting and original dramatic thrillers of the last few years. And as one of the most interesting films in general of this, now almost concluded, 2016. A film that I personally looked forward to a lot, after its presentation in Venice a few months ago.

Ford, already in 2009, at his debut with A Single Man, had shown remarkable and unexpected qualities as a director after a life as a famous fashion designer. The great care and aesthetic sophistication stand out even more in this new work, starting with the color choices (with red as the predominant and highly allegorical color) to the interior spaces, but the greatest merit of the film lies in so credibly building and making the story within the story so engaging. The book that the protagonist (a splendid Amy Adams, by the way) reads, written by her ex-husband, becomes the true center of the whole film, which from a "bourgeois" drama essentially transforms into a genuine southern gothic. And the nocturnal animals of the title become three Texan criminals who kidnap, rape, and kill the wife and daughter of the protagonist of the novel/alter ego of the aforementioned ex-husband.

The drama, combined with the growing desire for revenge in the writing, overlaps with the real protagonist's remorse and unhappiness, in a continuous alternation of flashbacks that explain the birth and end of her previous romantic story. And her unease in reading those pages tinges the film with an unprecedented suspense towards a character who actually will never be seen.

The originality and the immense finesse of this unusual thriller lie precisely in these different types of brutality and revenge. The classic, tragic, and tearing one in the novel and the subtle, mental one of the writer towards the wife who brutally left him. That will culminate in a memorable finale with much more intimate tones than one might have expected.

Ford (who doesn't fail to include among the lines more personal themes, such as the critique of the more conservative America - of great current relevance, obviously), in addition to being a great curator of aesthetic images, reveals himself as a tremendous storyteller and director of a structurally complex and unconventional film (without the typical convolutions of Nolan films), where real drama and only imagined violence blend completely, gets practically everything right and delivers a film that might be controversial, but worthy of being listed among the best of this year.

Besides the already mentioned Amy Adams, the entire cast is noteworthy, from the reliable Jake Gyllenhaal, to the always incredibly charismatic Shannon to the former Kick Ass Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

And in a time when the animals people rush to see in cinemas are the magical ones from the Harry Potter prequels, I highly recommend the nocturnal ones in this beautiful film.