Martin I. Petrov

REVIEW:Darker than midnight (Piu buio di Mezzanotte)by Sebastiano Riso (Italy) – 67eFestival De Cannes / 53e Critic’s Week (La Semainede la Critique)

Painfully tender and compassion-generating, Sebastiano Riso’s debutDarker than midnightpowerfully rips the emotional surface to reach thecore of sensitivity from its very first minute.

The film depicts a short period in the early adolescence of Davide, a fourteen year old boywho is confronted with his sexuality for the firsttime. Bullied by his own father, whodemands from the boy a more masculine behaviour, Davide leaves home and enters thedangerous world of Catania’s famous parkVilla Bellini. There he finds the support he wasalways looking for, in the company of youngsters living on the margins, ignored andmistreated by the locals.

Sebastiano Riso shows Davide’s transformation through the gradual loss of innocence and anabrupt transition to a dark and unexpected adulthood. For the young protagonist, the streets ofCatania feel more secure than home. He seeks liberation through his love for music and hisoverflowing need to share – feelings, dreams and visions for a future that always seemedblank and unknown.

The dark and mundane atmosphere of Catania, combined with the bursting youth around VillaBellini lead to a perfectly accomplished smoothnessin the flow. The characters’ feelings arecommunicated through a constantly moving image thatfollows every step but simultaneouslykeeps the distance, leaving them space to untangletheir personalities.

The strength of Davide’s choices and the resultingindependence and personal acceptance arethe basic lines that cut through each other to build the boy’s enigmatic rebirth. His mother,caring but simultaneously trapped within the patriarchal conformities of her husband and LaRettore, Davide’s new friend and protector from thepark, are the two main figures that guidehis emotional metamorphosis running smoothly through the entire film. The young boy’sapprehensiveness gradually finds a way to leak hisfeelings through the communication andthe integration in a community, which now becomes synonymous to his atonement.

Dealing with homosexuality and violence, SebastianoRiso frames his characters in their day-to-day life and yet does not expose them at all. Taking advantage of their uniqueness, thedirector digs into their personal desires, beliefsand even talents, making them oblivious ofsocietal ignorance and at the same time brave and devoted in their rebelliousness. Followingthe paradigm of his idol Jean Luc Godard, the Italian filmmaker decides to protect hischaracters, and especially young Davide, behind a glass of morality and an angelic veil thatsurrounds his vulnerability.

Set in one of the most conservative regions of Italy, the story uses the past aiming to critiquethe vanity of modern society, still in denial of the difference.Darker than midnightis a strongstatement of a parallel world that remained in theshadow for years and it’s now finding itsway to the surface.