Cannes review: ‘Nostalgia’ by Mario Martone

Nostalgia has rarely seemed more exciting or more treacherous than in a new Mario Martone film. The Italian director perfectly interprets his team, the troubled and disobedient hometown of Naples, on screen when he tells the story of a man who left as a teenager but, about 40 years later, fell back into their horrible embraces.

Very unknown in the United States, Martone has created ten functions over the past 30 years. Based on the evidence, he knows how to step into a complete drama without pretending to fit this story of a man who reacts to his return more strongly than he imagined.

Felice Lasco (Pierfrancesco Favino) is a tall, bearded man who suddenly finds himself in Naples to surprise his elderly mother. Felicity is clearly a balanced person and she remains a mystery, no, deeply troubling why she hasn’t visited her again in the past or she hasn’t boarded a plane to Cairo, where she has lived and worked for all these years. Worse still, he had no idea how deep she was her mother; The poor man lives in desperate darkness, a little in his name. Additionally, Martone convinced the actress, who plays her mother, to shoot a very revealing and necessary nude scene that feels very odd in context. The entire opening section turns the central character into a sloppy farce.

Nostalgia Trailer: Pierfrancesco Favino goes to Naples for Mario Martone’s Cannes Competition

Since she last saw her mother, Felicity has also embraced Islam, although it is a mild-mannered race. Eventually, Felicity reveals her guilt for the woman who brought him into the world and finds him a better apartment, but she soon dies. Strange, but only after she’s gone Felicity decides it’s time to go back to Naples full time, even though she’s already seen the Camorra gangsters shooting in the street.

Felice remains a figure of a frustrated or warm companion; While he can make big decisions, he’s not very powerful. He makes friends with an auxiliary priest who asks the visitor to leave the city because he is in danger. Although she understands what the pastor is talking about, Felicity refuses to worry because she is more sure that she will ever have her future in Naples.

Deep immersion in this particular urban environment is a pleasure; You can practically smell the open markets, garbage, dilapidated buildings, motorcycle exhaust, and once and for all the fresh air of churches. There remains, however, a mystery about Felice’s childhood ties with the current leader of the Camorra; Even though they were once best friends, there are still some unfinished business that Felicity should leave behind. But Felicity can’t resist and finally a meeting is arranged between them.

Almost every mafia story has a time-tested charm and this story has the fantastic advantage of being up close in real life and the lack of old school cliché conventions. When Felicity finally gains access to the inner altar and sees once again her childhood friend of hers who is now raunchy and old, what she has seen and done, the final showdown must be done.

The main problem here is Felicity’s lack of information about the human condition and the reality of the place where she was born, but of which she is no longer a part; You seem to understand the rules and protocols of the mafia less than anyone who has seen him. Godfather OR Soprano. From his origins, he doesn’t have to be naive, but he is and he is enough, ultimately making him an unsympathetic figure. As if he wasn’t watching a gangster movie himself.