‘Sono Viva (I Am Alive)’

CERT: TBC

UK RELEASE DATE: London Film Festival

DIRECTORS: Dino Gentili, Filippo Gentili

STARRING: Massimo de Santis, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Giorgio

‘Sono Viva (I Am Alive)’, is the lovechild of Italian TV screenwriters and first-time directors Dino and Filippo Gentili, and follows the impoverished Rocco as his consciousness blossoms and he discovers he is ‘alive’.

In production for five years following the granting and retracting of government funding and the subsequent reliance on a personal loan, ‘Sono Viva’ was shot in twenty-three days and illustrates twenty-four hours in the life of the principal protagonist.

Rocco is a poverty-worn, unemployed labourer on the verge of having his house repossessed and it’s this situation that forces him to take the peculiar job of watching over a dead body. An almost mute man that walks through life without experiencing it, his encounter with the corpse ‘Silvia’ and her self-absorbed kin awakens his compassion and subsequently induces him to defend what for the first time he truly believes in: avenging injustice. By entangling himself in Silvia’s life, he discovers unknown strengths, and in this conscious discovery he accepts his place in existence.

Combining elements of thriller, ascetic realism and drama genres in equal parts, ‘Sono Viva’ is an ambitious film. With its use of gritty and sometimes disturbingly protracted cinematography, and investigation of incestuous and overlapping themes of life and death in its portrayal of an anesthetised man, it offers a fresh look at the genre.

Unfortunately the potential hinted at in the film’s opening is almost eclipsed by a character that is hard to understand, lazy continuity errors, misplaced shots and a soap opera soundtrack, all of which reveals the inexperience of the directors.

Clearly influenced by both David Lynch and the Italian Realists, Dino and Filippo Gentili definitely have something important to say; they just haven’t found their pitch yet. But with a sold-out showcase and the exposure that accompanies a London Film Festival release, by their next outing there’s no doubting they’ll be breaking down barriers.