Marriage is not necessarily forever, especially if you Knock Off the groom at the ceremony. That's the plotting march in this dark and convoluted descent into premarital distress in "The Wedding Director" (Il Registra di Matrimoni), a filmic being whose overriding deceptions and flaws give ample cause for an early annulment with discerning viewers.
Centered on unsavory film director Franco Elica (Sergio Castellitto) whose professional ethics have warranted charges of sexual misconduct, the film is populated by an array of tawdry, self-absorbed jerks who not only make it impossible to root for anyone but also further muddle any course of thematic comment.
Depressed because his daughter has married a traditional Catholic and distressed by the downsliding course of his hack career, Franco detaches himself to a small village, where he is commissioned by a pompous prince to film his princess daughter's wedding. Not surprisingly, the predatory Franco becomes immediately infatuated with the princess (Donatella Finocchiaro) who, no surprise here, is depressed about her upcoming marriage. A callous opportunist, Franco decides to sabotage the marriage, rationalizing that he is saving her from an arranged union.
Along the way, he stumbles upon a rival director who has staged his own death as a good career move, thus winning the big film award that eluded him all his life. While this sideshow into the political shenanigans of the film-award universe is wonderful satire, it too is ground down by filmmaker Marco Bellocchio's heavy, gloomy hand. Once again, the "deceased" director is such a drunken lout that we're not even sympathetic with his high ruse.
Shot in somber tones of dark and darker, the film grinds along in a series of talky, static scenes. Sporadically, Bellocchio drowns out these leaden moments with bursts of clamorous piano or out-of-whack sounds. In essence, there is no aesthetic consistency to this hodgepodge and only vile characters to spend our time with.
Saddled with their individual odious roles, the cast's performances of venality and self-deception are ultimately monotonous, though Sami Frey's overarched histrionics as the Prince of Palagonia is unintentionally amusing for its camp dimension.
In a similar vein, director of photography Pasquale Mari deserves praise for his dimly lit compositions, nearly sparing us the ordeal of seeing this monstrosity.
THE WEDDING DIRECTOR
Filmalbatros, Rai Cinema, Dania Film, Surf Film in co-production with Filmtel with the support of Eurimages present a film by Marco Bellocchio
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Marco Bellocchio; Producers: Marco Bellocchio, Sergio Pelone; Executive producer: Luigi Lagrasta; Director of photography: Pasquale Mari; Art director: Marco Dentici; Editor: Francesca Calvelli; Costume designer: Sergio Ballo; Music: Riccardo Giagni.
Cast: Franco Elica: Sergio Castellitto; Bona Gravina: Donatella Finocchiaro; Prince of Palagonia: Sami Frey; Smamma: Gianni Cavina; Micetti: Maurizio Donadoni.
No MPAA rating, running time 100 minutes.
Centered on unsavory film director Franco Elica (Sergio Castellitto) whose professional ethics have warranted charges of sexual misconduct, the film is populated by an array of tawdry, self-absorbed jerks who not only make it impossible to root for anyone but also further muddle any course of thematic comment.
Depressed because his daughter has married a traditional Catholic and distressed by the downsliding course of his hack career, Franco detaches himself to a small village, where he is commissioned by a pompous prince to film his princess daughter's wedding. Not surprisingly, the predatory Franco becomes immediately infatuated with the princess (Donatella Finocchiaro) who, no surprise here, is depressed about her upcoming marriage. A callous opportunist, Franco decides to sabotage the marriage, rationalizing that he is saving her from an arranged union.
Along the way, he stumbles upon a rival director who has staged his own death as a good career move, thus winning the big film award that eluded him all his life. While this sideshow into the political shenanigans of the film-award universe is wonderful satire, it too is ground down by filmmaker Marco Bellocchio's heavy, gloomy hand. Once again, the "deceased" director is such a drunken lout that we're not even sympathetic with his high ruse.
Shot in somber tones of dark and darker, the film grinds along in a series of talky, static scenes. Sporadically, Bellocchio drowns out these leaden moments with bursts of clamorous piano or out-of-whack sounds. In essence, there is no aesthetic consistency to this hodgepodge and only vile characters to spend our time with.
Saddled with their individual odious roles, the cast's performances of venality and self-deception are ultimately monotonous, though Sami Frey's overarched histrionics as the Prince of Palagonia is unintentionally amusing for its camp dimension.
In a similar vein, director of photography Pasquale Mari deserves praise for his dimly lit compositions, nearly sparing us the ordeal of seeing this monstrosity.
THE WEDDING DIRECTOR
Filmalbatros, Rai Cinema, Dania Film, Surf Film in co-production with Filmtel with the support of Eurimages present a film by Marco Bellocchio
Credits: Director-screenwriter: Marco Bellocchio; Producers: Marco Bellocchio, Sergio Pelone; Executive producer: Luigi Lagrasta; Director of photography: Pasquale Mari; Art director: Marco Dentici; Editor: Francesca Calvelli; Costume designer: Sergio Ballo; Music: Riccardo Giagni.
Cast: Franco Elica: Sergio Castellitto; Bona Gravina: Donatella Finocchiaro; Prince of Palagonia: Sami Frey; Smamma: Gianni Cavina; Micetti: Maurizio Donadoni.
No MPAA rating, running time 100 minutes.
- 5/21/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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