A visual but misguided coming-of-age story.
When I tried to type the title “Diciannove” as the title of my review, the auto correct changed it to “Socialize.” And I checked “Socialize” in Italian is “Socializzare.” “Diciannove” translates to 19, which is how old the main character is. So I better be careful with writing the movie’s title for the rest of this review.
“Diciannove,” the new Italian drama, opens with a young man named Leonardo (Manfredi Marini) waking up in his sister’s bed to a bloody nose and letting it leak on her pillow, the bathroom floor, and even the tub drain like he’s trying to make it look like the shower scene in “Psycho” or something. He looks like he just filmed an Italian “Fight Club” remake, but his mother suggests he’s fine.
He visits his sister (Vittoria Plantea)in London for a night of partying, drinking, and rap music. He’s also studying literature in Sienna, where he questions his teacher’s methods, and has his life tropes. Some of the qualities that make this film a coming-of-age story.
From the looks of his tone and disposition, Marini kind of looks like an Italian Ellar Coltrane. You know the “Boyhood” actor. In fact, from the looks of this movie, it almost feels like the third act of “Boyhood,” especially with the coming-of-age genre.
From time to time, we get zoom-in shots of people and things, and even some quick pauses. There’s also a pause when it looks like there’s something wrong with the screen kudos to a black hole, but it disappears and cuts to the next image. The young man also has animated dreams, some of them more bizarre and stylish than others. And one scene plays like a silent movie.
And there are a number of scenes regarding the power of reading and what messages come within. There’s plenty of time for the screen to translate the Italian words into English, as much as there’s time for spoken subtitles.
So all these things could make it a different kind of coming-of-age story, especially when there’s ambition from writer-director Giovanni Tortorici and producer Luca Guadagnino. But the bad news is that there’s barely any life in the characters and relies on the amazing filmmaking techniques to sell the film.
There’s barely any characters worthy of screen time, as some come and go, while others are underdeveloped. There’s one scene when the sister visits her brother in Sienna and wants to hang out with his friends, but he texts “Pee and Poop” in the What’s App group chat.
The main character is well acted by Marini, but his narrative and development barely has any sense of direction. It looks as though he’s bored with doing the character, while at other times, he seems to be entertaining himself in nostalgia territory. When he does find himself during parties, silent movie scenes, and his views on reading, he’s full of life and spirit. But other scenes have him losing that kind of magic.
“Diciannove” looks and feels like the kind of movie I would enjoy and be enthralled with, and the filmmakers deliver with the right images. And the best scenes take place during the bloody nose segment, which is a sign of pure potential and Tarantino and Scorsese brilliance. But this movie doesn’t deliver the right story or character development for us to be taken in this world.
In Select Theaters
