Lazzaro is a symbolic character in this Film. With the eyes of an innocent, kindhearted child he connects two worlds-two parts of the story. Lives of enslaves tabaco growers are difficult, manual labor is hard, food is scarce and living arrangements are appalling. Yet, their lives are socially structured, they maintain cultural traditions, live in a beautiful natural environment, eat " real" bread, drink real wine, take care of each other and maintain good spirit.
What happens next is heart wrenching, but reflective of today's reality. Good intention pave a road to hell they say. Chips for a meal anyone?
80 Reviews
Gentle but savage
paul2001sw-119 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
In Alice Rohrwacher's film, 'Happy as Lazzaro', a group of peasants live in semi-slavery in the 1990s Italy, held in thrall by an aristocratic (but themselves impoverished) family who shield them from the world. Eventually, the state rescues them, only to abandon them to modern life. The eponynous Lazzaro, a holy fool, falls from a cliff and is left behind; twenty years later, a savage but gentle wolf returns him to life and he heads to the city and rediscovers his kindred. He also discovers that in some senses nothing has changed, as even their former oppressors still abuse them in the hierarchy of poverty. The combination of magic realism and ignorance reminded me of Kusturica, although the tone here is far quieter than any of his movies. The film ultimately offers no explanation of its plot, but there's a sense of underlying truthfulness, and profound melancholia, throughout.
neo-realism meets magic realism
dromasca23 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
From time to time, once every few years, comes a movie that does not look like anything I've seen before as a passionate cinema fan. It's what's going on with 'Lazarro felice', the film made by the Italian director Alice Rohrwacher. A special, beautiful, one-of-a-kind movie, one of those movies that after watching you have the feeling that you've made new acquaintances within its characters and, if you're not too cynical, you've become a little better than before seeing it.
'Lazarro felice' is one of those films that have an atemporal character, even as the story takes place in a well defined period of time, if we look for example, at the technical accessories used by heroes such as their portable phones. I believe that viewers over 20, 50 or 100 years will understand the metaphor in the spirit of their times. The story of the film combines social and even political elements (social class gaps, labor exploitation of the poor, the bad influence of the tobacco monopoly) characteristic of Neorealism with a powerful magic and religious message. Lazarro, the poor peasant boy in the film, is destined by name but especially by his character and deeds to follow the canons of Catholic Christianity, only that today's world has no respect for those who have a tendency to holiness, exploits them physically and sentimentally, and eventually destroys them. The Biblical story does not tell us what happened to St. Lazarus after the resurrection by Jesus four days after his death. In Alice Rohrwacher's film, in a world that is perhaps our world, he dies the the second time, killed by the people around unable to understand his intentions.'Lazarro felice' may feature in the repertoire of Catholic film festivals, but attention - his resurrection is far from being Christian, the legend of the wolf has origins much older than Christianity in the mythologies of the area we now call Italy.
Good films in the fantasy genre are characterized by the fact that they absorb you in the story beyond the point where you feel the need to check the credibility of the facts that happen on the screen. Just as true believers who do not question the miracles in the Bible, the viewers of this film will not question what Lazarro can do. Much of the merit lies with the actor who plays the lead role, whose name is Adriano Tardiolo. He is at his first film and lives exceptionally in his role. As a matter of fact, a large part of the cast is made up of unprofessional actors, a world of the poor, located at the beginning at the periphery of the geography and later of the society in which the story takes place. A profoundly human world, but one under threat, which only miracles can help survive. Director Alice Rohrwacher made a beautiful film. She is a new and clear voice in the Italian cinema landscape. I'm waiting for many other great movies from her.
'Lazarro felice' is one of those films that have an atemporal character, even as the story takes place in a well defined period of time, if we look for example, at the technical accessories used by heroes such as their portable phones. I believe that viewers over 20, 50 or 100 years will understand the metaphor in the spirit of their times. The story of the film combines social and even political elements (social class gaps, labor exploitation of the poor, the bad influence of the tobacco monopoly) characteristic of Neorealism with a powerful magic and religious message. Lazarro, the poor peasant boy in the film, is destined by name but especially by his character and deeds to follow the canons of Catholic Christianity, only that today's world has no respect for those who have a tendency to holiness, exploits them physically and sentimentally, and eventually destroys them. The Biblical story does not tell us what happened to St. Lazarus after the resurrection by Jesus four days after his death. In Alice Rohrwacher's film, in a world that is perhaps our world, he dies the the second time, killed by the people around unable to understand his intentions.'Lazarro felice' may feature in the repertoire of Catholic film festivals, but attention - his resurrection is far from being Christian, the legend of the wolf has origins much older than Christianity in the mythologies of the area we now call Italy.
Good films in the fantasy genre are characterized by the fact that they absorb you in the story beyond the point where you feel the need to check the credibility of the facts that happen on the screen. Just as true believers who do not question the miracles in the Bible, the viewers of this film will not question what Lazarro can do. Much of the merit lies with the actor who plays the lead role, whose name is Adriano Tardiolo. He is at his first film and lives exceptionally in his role. As a matter of fact, a large part of the cast is made up of unprofessional actors, a world of the poor, located at the beginning at the periphery of the geography and later of the society in which the story takes place. A profoundly human world, but one under threat, which only miracles can help survive. Director Alice Rohrwacher made a beautiful film. She is a new and clear voice in the Italian cinema landscape. I'm waiting for many other great movies from her.
A Masterpiece!
heryzanya1 December 2018
What is wrong with us? Where is innocence and compassion? Is there any good left in this world? Lazzaro represents the incarnation of kindness itself. It is hearthbreaking to see that "Lazzaros" have very little space in this world, and that they are mostly not welcome. This movie will touch deeply the people who are still able to cry when confronted with all the atrocities, and injustices we commit to each other day by day. Most of all, it will touch whoever feels the need to improve in terms of humanity, sensibility and compassion even knowing that greater and darker forces overwhelm mankind.
I deeply recommend everyone this experience.
I deeply recommend everyone this experience.
Rohrwacher's fantastic fable about the Wolf at the door
gortx4 December 2018
Loosely inspired by a true story of Italian farmers who were forced into near sharecropper conditions by the De Luna family in an isolated village, Alice Rohrwacher's HAPPY AS LAZZARO takes a fantastical approach to the material. The early scenes of the workers toiling to get by in the hamlet is, like Rohrwacher's previous THE WONDERS (bee farmers), full of attention to detail - both visually and aurally (the sounds of the wind and the distant howls of wild animals become their own soundtrack).
The screenplay (a winner at Cannes) becomes a fable as it moves along. The peasants eventually settle into the city - but, their lives at the bottom of the run continue. A hearty band, led by Antonia (a superb Alba Rohrwacher, the Director's sister) struggles to survive in the modern world. As fate would have it, they cross paths with the remnants of the De Luna clan. Throughout all this, is Lazzaro (Adriano Tardiolo). A sort of benighted Forrest Gump figure, Lazzaro drifts among the characters blissfully unaware of the darkness around him.
Rohrwacher's fantasy elements (THE WONDERS also had a few), gives the film (shot on 16mm) a different perspective. The symbolism doesn't always fully connect, but, you never doubt that her vision isn't firmly conceived. One thought becomes clear and lingers in the mind: The wolf may be at the door, but, who is the wolf?
Homo Homini Lupus?
ognjen-janic17 July 2018
Tender, poetic, philosophical, allegorical tale of control and exploitation and funnily enough the picture of the absurd yet the-truest-that-I've-ever-seen state of contentment.
The sheer atrocities of manipulation and shameless discrimination of the fellow earthlings is heart-wrenching and tough to watch yet the poetic whiff that imbues it draws an overwhelming feeling of self-realization and utter admiration and gratitude towards the author of this Film-classic that questions the destiny of innocence in the Contemporary world.
Too Obtuse
evanston_dad5 February 2019
"Happy as Lazzaro" feels like a parable with hints of magical realism, and the whole thing was just a bit too obtuse for me to fully enjoy.
There are themes of social repression, economic exploitation, and mankind's abandonment of nature for the more soulless landscapes of urban industrialization, all of which are certainly relevant to the world in which we live. But I found myself hard pressed to feel involved in any of it as explored by this film. Lazzaro is more an idea than an actual character, and I think one of the reasons he's offered as such a blank slate is so that the audience can project on to him whatever they want. I imagine there will be all sorts of different interpretations of this film, who Lazzaro is, and what it is he's meant to signify. I can and have expended that kind of mental energy on answering questions in other movies, and usually enjoy it very much, but I have to feel like the questions are going to be worth answering before I can get my head in that zone, and I didn't with this movie.
Grade: B
There are themes of social repression, economic exploitation, and mankind's abandonment of nature for the more soulless landscapes of urban industrialization, all of which are certainly relevant to the world in which we live. But I found myself hard pressed to feel involved in any of it as explored by this film. Lazzaro is more an idea than an actual character, and I think one of the reasons he's offered as such a blank slate is so that the audience can project on to him whatever they want. I imagine there will be all sorts of different interpretations of this film, who Lazzaro is, and what it is he's meant to signify. I can and have expended that kind of mental energy on answering questions in other movies, and usually enjoy it very much, but I have to feel like the questions are going to be worth answering before I can get my head in that zone, and I didn't with this movie.
Grade: B
Transcendent
chris-arrieta9 December 2018
Personification of Kindness and Happiness?
iquine17 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
(Flash Review)
The film's message is difficult to tease it out as the credits rolled. Upon reflection and digesting the meaty symbolism, one could presume the film's message is spreading kindness is a moral goal to strive for as there is a sever lack of it in today's world. It contrasted peasant sharecroppers in their beautiful, natural environment with the cold, dingy and cement city atmosphere. As the film opens, you wander through a group of farmhands living in terrible conditions working the land for meager scraps. A young boy, Lazzaro, is one of them who is too nice, arguably naïve, and does whatever anyone tells him to do. Then one day he has an accident and apparently when he awakens it appears to be 40 years later yet he hasn't aged. This is where Lazzaro could possibly be just a symbolic metaphor for kindness as wherever he goes, people are happier. There really isn't a defined plot, you just follow Lazzaro and the people in his circle in the past and future times. What is the meaning of this young man named Lazzaro? This film had interesting rough picture frame edges of the literal frame and used well-composed minimal shot framing of rural nature that at least pleased the eye during this slow and contemplative story. This is not for everyone.
The film's message is difficult to tease it out as the credits rolled. Upon reflection and digesting the meaty symbolism, one could presume the film's message is spreading kindness is a moral goal to strive for as there is a sever lack of it in today's world. It contrasted peasant sharecroppers in their beautiful, natural environment with the cold, dingy and cement city atmosphere. As the film opens, you wander through a group of farmhands living in terrible conditions working the land for meager scraps. A young boy, Lazzaro, is one of them who is too nice, arguably naïve, and does whatever anyone tells him to do. Then one day he has an accident and apparently when he awakens it appears to be 40 years later yet he hasn't aged. This is where Lazzaro could possibly be just a symbolic metaphor for kindness as wherever he goes, people are happier. There really isn't a defined plot, you just follow Lazzaro and the people in his circle in the past and future times. What is the meaning of this young man named Lazzaro? This film had interesting rough picture frame edges of the literal frame and used well-composed minimal shot framing of rural nature that at least pleased the eye during this slow and contemplative story. This is not for everyone.
Rip van Winkle meets Albert Camus somewhere in an Italian homeless camp.
doublesquids13 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
The French philosopher Albert Camus once wrote, "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free as to make one's own existence an act of rebellion." In this quirky but spellbinding absurdist Italian movie, an engaging young man, both saint and wolf, manages to pull that off with style. Rip Van Winkle was a character in an old American tale who stays asleep for 20 years, waking up when all has changed. In "Lazzaro felice," young Lazzaro does much of the same, falling into a fever delirium on a grim tobacco plantation where labor laws are violated with impunity, and ending, after waking up, in a homeless encampment, with old acquaintances having aged grotesquely. Lazzaro' rebellion is against hard-hearted people and economic adversity which would crush his soul, but he fights being crushed all the way to a bittersweet end. Not a cheerful movie or an easy plot to follow, but one worth watching, contemplating, and admiring.
odd yet beautiful film
joker-47 January 2019
The first act of the Italian film Happy As Lazzaro focuses on naïve, worker-bee Lazzaro, an all-around good-guy who's as gullible as Charlie Brown. He, along with his fellow working community, is exploited by a tobacco heiress as unwitting sharecroppers. Unfortunately, further references to Steve Martin's The Jerk stop there. Lazzaro falls into a unique, albeit one-sided, friendship with the heiress' son, Tancredi, Tancredi, of course, is a bored dreamer who has everything; Lazzaro's a dreamer of the opposite order. While lyrics from folk-rockers Moxy Fruvous' "King of Spain" might come to mind, a song detailing the switching of identity to alter responsibilities, writer/director Alice Rohrwacher sings a decidedly different art house tune. The film changes tactics and shows a displaced Lazzaro alone in the big city, still trying to appease friends and foes alike with disastrous effects. Good grief.
Happy As Lazzaro is gorgeously shot on super 16mm film, which feels like a special treat from 1989. Rohrwacher keeps her dialogue at a minimum trusting Adriano Tardiolo's eyes and body language as the storyteller. The trade off is the loose story wanders as easily as Lazzaro's daydreams. Lazzaro is a likeable round character, yet as the story grows in complexity, he retreats in his innocence. Rohrwacher no doubt deliberately creates this conflict as her morality play grows into a fable, but the ultimate treatment of the character is as unfulfilling as it is sermonizing.
Lazzaro is the analogous common worker, never rewarded for his efforts. He is used, removed, and replaced as often as this tale's format. To tally the scores once again, the 1% have 100, the Dreamers, 0. Maybe nothing has changed since 1989.
Lazzaro may remain happy, but viewers might rather indulge in the Italian scenery.
Happy As Lazzaro is gorgeously shot on super 16mm film, which feels like a special treat from 1989. Rohrwacher keeps her dialogue at a minimum trusting Adriano Tardiolo's eyes and body language as the storyteller. The trade off is the loose story wanders as easily as Lazzaro's daydreams. Lazzaro is a likeable round character, yet as the story grows in complexity, he retreats in his innocence. Rohrwacher no doubt deliberately creates this conflict as her morality play grows into a fable, but the ultimate treatment of the character is as unfulfilling as it is sermonizing.
Lazzaro is the analogous common worker, never rewarded for his efforts. He is used, removed, and replaced as often as this tale's format. To tally the scores once again, the 1% have 100, the Dreamers, 0. Maybe nothing has changed since 1989.
Lazzaro may remain happy, but viewers might rather indulge in the Italian scenery.
The Tale of Inviolata
smithpaulusmc12 November 2018
There are some in our lives that exist beyond the scope of time or universally accepted countenance, those like Lazzaro who bear the kindness of a child and the internal strength of an ox. In Alice Rohrwacher junior film Lazzaro Felice (Happy as Lazzaro), the title character develops an unlikely friendship with the heir to a tobacco industry marquis. This same marquis has kept Lazzaro and his kin imprisoned as unpaid workers on a farm isolated from the modern world. The film mesmerizingly drifts between somber and bitter-sweet notes while the tobacco leaves and sway and the sun bakes the earth. Because the work is captured in warm 16mm, the setting feels like a piece of art from a lost age. Every character is real. A pinch is required to remind the viewer that this is not a dream or a production, Lazzaro and his partner in crime Tancredi are flesh and blood.
The sound profile's depth compliments Lazzaro Felice's archaic beauty. The score uses music box chiming and staccato piano strikes, both of which echo throughout the Italian hills. Despite the Italian language barrier, one can understand the plot from vocal inflections alone. Lastly, the sound effects are rich. The pitter patter of the wolves' claws over concrete is distinct from the crunch of sand and soil underfoot.
Lazzaro Felice is not to be missed. It calls to mind an air of innocence and perseverance in spite of the world. It beckons home the love of youth and family.
Aint Them Italians Saints?
torrascotia10 April 2019
I have read with interest some of the strange interpretations of this movie. The inability to understand what the story this movie conveys is largely down to the lack of awareness of the Catholic faith as its no longer in favour with some due to how the church responded to allegations of abuse.
This is a movie about a saint. The main actor bears more than a passing resemblance to Michelangelos David in both facial features and hair. His behaviour is selfless and he turns the other cheek when abused. He is dutiful and never questions authority. He is in short the ideal catholic or rather the ideal that the catholic religion teaches.
Religious iconography is all over this movie and there is also a discussion about saints and their demise, the so called shock ending is no shock if you have have ever attended mass. This is not exactly a surprise as this movie is based in a catholic country.
The movie is the story about a person who is used as a beast of burden by a group of tobacco workers who are in turn being exploited by the rich, all very biblical. The story is split into two with the first half focusing on the tobacco farm and the second years later in a city setting.
There is alot of gentle humour in the movie and it is in part poverty porn, its about the poorest of the poor being exploited by those with better finances. This is also a very catholic idea, that the poor will get to heaven while the rich will not. The story itself is quite simple but is maybe overlong at over two hours.
This is a movie which would likely play well to a religious audience who understand where the narrative is coming from. However its in Italian which may limit its reach. Its certainly playing well with the so called educated classes however they appear to be uneducated in the texts of dominant christian religion and interpret this movie as "magical" but seem to miss the point.
If you enjoyed Being There this is basically a religious version on the same themes, recommended but its not magical its religious.
What a waste of time!
evakrizsanits22 July 2019
The reviews looked quite promising and so I was looking forward to see the movie... But oh boy, what a waste of time! The first 20 minutes seemed to be interesting but then the nonsense starts, with boring side stories, strange character development until it was not clear anymore what this story was about? Modern day slavery? Friendship? Betrayal? A strange story about a "saint"? Life struggles of poor people? I did not know by the end.
I think the good reviews were written from people who think that a weird and boring story that makes no sense is somehow artsy. It's not. It is just plain nonsense.
Happy as Lazzaro Review
vladimir-janic16 July 2018
Watched the film at the Palic Film Festival few days ago and i'm still under its influence. Happy as Lazzaro is shot on Super 16mm, lending the film a grainy look that evokes warmth and nostalgia. Wonderful film that wraps its hands around you and with its unusual exotic atmosphere doesn't let go till the end. The acting is briilliant, especially from Adriano Tardiolo, extremley talented actor, hope to see him more in the future. Alice Rohrwacher made a masterpiece and without spoiling anything, I deeply recommend you to see it.
Unique and witty film.
adhikarysrijan25 November 2018
Profound - Poetic - Heart-wrenching
angela_dixon31 May 2019
There are some films that change you forever, Happy As Lazzaro is one of them. It is a painfully beautiful film with the socioeconomic insight of Leviathan, the poetic heart of The Shape Of Water and the emotional punch of The Diving Bell & the Butterfly. I saw it last night and it's resonance is still reverberating through my heart and mind. It is so intelligently drawn, steeped in allegory and metaphor that are both an indictment of our worst selves and a reminder of the infinite possibility of our choice to be good, to exercise positive unconditional regard for others. Thank you to Alice Rohrwacher and Tempesta Film for creating this masterpiece. Deeply affecting & not to be missed.
Happiness is a state of mind
teresa_rosado12 January 2022
Lazzaro Felice (Alice Rohrwacher, 2018) is a tale that causes some strangeness in the first few minutes, but quickly the spirit opens to receive this wonderful cinematic narrative where neorealism and magical realism intersect. From the first sequence, we are taken by a growing curiosity to know what makes that rural community succumb to the marquise's whims. Within this community, the angelic figure of Lazarus emerges, whose naivety and candor quickly touch the spectator, and who are responsible for making Lazarus worthy of the miracle of resurrection. Adriano Tardiolo is the non-actor who perfectly embodies the happiness of simple things, without expecting anything in return, to which the title alludes. In a world where everyone is exploited and exploiters, only Lázaro fulfills the virtue of disinterest.
Beautiful Film
tatiana-santini33310 December 2018
Very well done, brilliantly exposing human nature, the contrast and capacities of humans to remain compassionate and kind in spite all suffering, or to be mean and greedy. Very creative, with many deep meaningful messages of kindness and compassion, and how rare and unusual those qualities are. Lazzaro's character reminds me of St. Francis of Assisi, and I got a sense that there was a parallel and subtle comparison to St. Francis. Loved this film.
Stronger in the first half
proud_luddite13 January 2019
Beginning in the late 1970s, the title character (played by Adrian Tardiolo) is a young man who is good-hearted though naive. He is a among a community of over fifty people who live and work in tobacco fields in rural Italy. They are exploited by a cigarette company owner.
Firstly, a side comment: this is the second recent film from Italy in which the lead actor has a striking resemblance to Justin Trudeau. This also occurred with Timothée Chalamet in "Call Me By Your Name" released earlier this year. Okay, enough about superficial fluff and on to the review.
The film's first half is fascinating in its depiction of extreme class differences and how the poor can remain pure in their hearts despite their circumstances. The film-makers succeed in making their point in a way that is not syrupy or manipulative. The second half also fascinates in how it shows how the poor get by in very different circumstances in another location, Adding further intrigue are believable elements of mysticism including the use of a wolf as a spirit animal.
The conclusion does not live up to the earlier potential. It includes a scene in which "goodness" is stupidly applied. Further to that is the final scene that is too bizarre and out of place. This is unfortunate as most of the film was quite good. - dbamateurcritic.
Firstly, a side comment: this is the second recent film from Italy in which the lead actor has a striking resemblance to Justin Trudeau. This also occurred with Timothée Chalamet in "Call Me By Your Name" released earlier this year. Okay, enough about superficial fluff and on to the review.
The film's first half is fascinating in its depiction of extreme class differences and how the poor can remain pure in their hearts despite their circumstances. The film-makers succeed in making their point in a way that is not syrupy or manipulative. The second half also fascinates in how it shows how the poor get by in very different circumstances in another location, Adding further intrigue are believable elements of mysticism including the use of a wolf as a spirit animal.
The conclusion does not live up to the earlier potential. It includes a scene in which "goodness" is stupidly applied. Further to that is the final scene that is too bizarre and out of place. This is unfortunate as most of the film was quite good. - dbamateurcritic.
A fantasy that says something about reality
TheDonaldofDoom31 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"Happy as Lazzaro" is a transcendent and at times fantastical tale of a boy who is too good for the world he lives in. It manages to feel like a fairy tale as well as a grounded story that has something real to say. The grainy camera complements the rural setting that makes it feel like it's set in almost a different world, yet the human traits it's rooted in are very relatable. It is a kind of fantasy, where Lazzaro has several unrealistic traits that separate him from everyone else, but the fantasy fits here as it exists to communicate the film's themes. It is not fantasy for the sake of it.
There is allegory in this tale, which at times takes turns that are bizarre and unexpected. Lazzaro is unique, a glimmer of hope in a world full of evil, with an innocent, youthful face that clearly marks him out from everyone else. The key to understanding them is understanding Lazzaro's role. He is described as a saint, but he is also so innocent that he does not understand that humans can be evil. They are able to exploit his lack of awareness for evil purposes. Also, tragically, people do not understand him. It makes you think: why do people, like the burglars, exploit a boy's innocence for their own ends? Why do others, like the Inviolata survivors, assume the worst in him rather than seeing him for what he is? And in this world, how far can you get without trampling on anyone else? Lazzaro, after all, ends up being beaten up. "Happy as Lazzaro's" answers to its own questions aren't very optimistic.
The film touches on other things, such as the clash between the rural and the urban. The change doesn't benefit the workers, who now live in poverty in a dirty landscape in which they resort to criminal methods to stay alive. Is this really an improvement over the sharecropping setup? Meanwhile the heads of the estate continue to exploit others, auctioning jobs to migrants. Lazzaro is caught up in this but doesn't really understand what is going on. The whole thing a damning watch and one that would be very depressing if not for the heartfelt, tender touch that graces its entire length.
There is allegory in this tale, which at times takes turns that are bizarre and unexpected. Lazzaro is unique, a glimmer of hope in a world full of evil, with an innocent, youthful face that clearly marks him out from everyone else. The key to understanding them is understanding Lazzaro's role. He is described as a saint, but he is also so innocent that he does not understand that humans can be evil. They are able to exploit his lack of awareness for evil purposes. Also, tragically, people do not understand him. It makes you think: why do people, like the burglars, exploit a boy's innocence for their own ends? Why do others, like the Inviolata survivors, assume the worst in him rather than seeing him for what he is? And in this world, how far can you get without trampling on anyone else? Lazzaro, after all, ends up being beaten up. "Happy as Lazzaro's" answers to its own questions aren't very optimistic.
The film touches on other things, such as the clash between the rural and the urban. The change doesn't benefit the workers, who now live in poverty in a dirty landscape in which they resort to criminal methods to stay alive. Is this really an improvement over the sharecropping setup? Meanwhile the heads of the estate continue to exploit others, auctioning jobs to migrants. Lazzaro is caught up in this but doesn't really understand what is going on. The whole thing a damning watch and one that would be very depressing if not for the heartfelt, tender touch that graces its entire length.
Everybody's Fool / See no evil
Horst_In_Translation14 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
"Lazzaro felice" or "Happy as Lazzaro" is a new movie in the Italian language that is a co-production between several West/Central european countries with Italy clearly at the center of it all, not just in terms of language, but also in terms of locations and the general spirit and atmosphere. Writer and director is Alice Rohrwacher who seems to be among a wave of new rising female filmmakers from Europe who could have a shot at making it big in Hollywood at some point as well. Her movie here won a great deal of awards already with the most prestigious being a Screenplay Palme d'Or at Cannes. But this is just one of several and this film made quite some waves at all kinds of film festivals all around the globe. It is a pretty long movie, makes it past the two-hour mark without credits already, but luckily there were almost no segments when it really dragged. The title character is played by Adriano Tardiolo (reminded me a bit of an Italian version of Timothée Chalamet at times) and he is pretty decent I would say. It is his very first performance according to imdb and not as challenging as it may seem. he gets away with 2-3 face expressions as a whole throughout this very movie as his scenes are rarely about him really, but more about the people he interacts with and how they deal with him. But there are also familiar faces in here. I as a European film buff recognized Sergi López immediately and and director Alica Rohrwacher castg her older sister Alba again playing one of the key supporting characters, probably the female character with the most screen time. And finally, there is Nicoletta Braschi from "La vita e bella" in here, one of my favorite films of all time, approaching the age of 60 now and I liked her performance too, even if she really does not have that much screen time.
Early on, the film almost exclusively relies on scenes in which the main character gets humiliated, rather psychologically than physically, by his peers, a group of hard-working farm aides used by a greedy old land owner against their better knowledge and pretty much held like slaves. The film wasn't bad or anything at this point and it was a decentg introduction to the setting and the main character, but perhaps it was a bit too long to be honest and also too many characters that did not get proper elaboration. Then again, most of these were interchangable anyway, like the guy who says he can be called anytime if Lazzaro needs him and then won't be seen again. I thought there could be a love story early on, but it did not turn out this way. instead we get a story about a bizarre fictitious half-brother with platinum blonde hair, who is definitely among the more interesting characters the film has to offer with his ideas of being different and alternative and how he sees himself that way, but in the end, he is really just another spoilt rich kid who is scared of cutting his own arm to add a mark of blood to his fictitious abduction letter where he actually criminalizes Lazzaro, but still treats him like his dog at times. Nonetheless, here and there you could make an argument for him not being as much againstg Lazzaro as everybody else, but that is just personal perception. When Lazzaro falls off a cliff, there is a crucial change in story. And in terms of time and locations. The fact that Lazzaro apparently does not age while everybody around him has gotten decades older let me think that Lazzaro may not have survived the fall off the cliff and everything afterward is just imagination and not reality until he also dies in his mind as well inside the banki while fighting for what he sees as the good cause. And again he is brought to the ground by seemingly everyday men and women. They aren't antagonists, but goodness exceeds their perception and nextg to him they do look evil. There is an interesting comment by a female character early on that each group of people or person just hands the humiliation to the next below them. Sadly, she is probably right, even if she does not perceive Lazzaro as the very bottom who suks it in without really caring or at least without him being bothered by it.
Finallly, a few words on the group of people he ends up with, a gang of small time crooks and the way he meets them and helps them carrying away the stolen goods while mistaking them for people working for a furniture transport enterprise is actually fairly funny and it shows us again Lazzaro's spotless mind. There is a certain irony to that that these are the people that he eventually grown close with, that it's criminals and not the simple people he grew up with, even if these criminals are not really very violent or despicable or anything. they are just trying to make a living and they don't have many other options which also has to do with lack of education when Lazzaro teaches themwhat they can eat and how they do not have to commit crimes to get fed. Sure, there are moments when they are sick of him too, especially the elder members of the group, and he never feels fully integrated with anybody except Rohrwacher's character, but it feels like the firstg time he has a true sense of belonging with other people I assume. Nonetheless, his affection with the blonde guy I mentioned earlier has him break up with these too, at least temporarily, so there must have been a special bond somehow at least from his perspective. But despite all that happens I would not call Lazzaro a masochist. I think he is just willing to do everything what it takes to fit in and help other people and he has a low self-esteem which results in him being willing to do stuff for others that others would not only not do for him, but not do for anybody and he doesn't even questions these actions. You can say that he is pure goodness really and it is depressing to watch how others use him because of that (pretty much everybody) instead of appreciating his spotless mind. An interesting movie that starts mediocre, but gets better the longer it goes and the ending is quite good to be honest. I recommend checking it out and judging from this I am curious what Rohrwacher has in store for us the coming years. Go see it.
Early on, the film almost exclusively relies on scenes in which the main character gets humiliated, rather psychologically than physically, by his peers, a group of hard-working farm aides used by a greedy old land owner against their better knowledge and pretty much held like slaves. The film wasn't bad or anything at this point and it was a decentg introduction to the setting and the main character, but perhaps it was a bit too long to be honest and also too many characters that did not get proper elaboration. Then again, most of these were interchangable anyway, like the guy who says he can be called anytime if Lazzaro needs him and then won't be seen again. I thought there could be a love story early on, but it did not turn out this way. instead we get a story about a bizarre fictitious half-brother with platinum blonde hair, who is definitely among the more interesting characters the film has to offer with his ideas of being different and alternative and how he sees himself that way, but in the end, he is really just another spoilt rich kid who is scared of cutting his own arm to add a mark of blood to his fictitious abduction letter where he actually criminalizes Lazzaro, but still treats him like his dog at times. Nonetheless, here and there you could make an argument for him not being as much againstg Lazzaro as everybody else, but that is just personal perception. When Lazzaro falls off a cliff, there is a crucial change in story. And in terms of time and locations. The fact that Lazzaro apparently does not age while everybody around him has gotten decades older let me think that Lazzaro may not have survived the fall off the cliff and everything afterward is just imagination and not reality until he also dies in his mind as well inside the banki while fighting for what he sees as the good cause. And again he is brought to the ground by seemingly everyday men and women. They aren't antagonists, but goodness exceeds their perception and nextg to him they do look evil. There is an interesting comment by a female character early on that each group of people or person just hands the humiliation to the next below them. Sadly, she is probably right, even if she does not perceive Lazzaro as the very bottom who suks it in without really caring or at least without him being bothered by it.
Finallly, a few words on the group of people he ends up with, a gang of small time crooks and the way he meets them and helps them carrying away the stolen goods while mistaking them for people working for a furniture transport enterprise is actually fairly funny and it shows us again Lazzaro's spotless mind. There is a certain irony to that that these are the people that he eventually grown close with, that it's criminals and not the simple people he grew up with, even if these criminals are not really very violent or despicable or anything. they are just trying to make a living and they don't have many other options which also has to do with lack of education when Lazzaro teaches themwhat they can eat and how they do not have to commit crimes to get fed. Sure, there are moments when they are sick of him too, especially the elder members of the group, and he never feels fully integrated with anybody except Rohrwacher's character, but it feels like the firstg time he has a true sense of belonging with other people I assume. Nonetheless, his affection with the blonde guy I mentioned earlier has him break up with these too, at least temporarily, so there must have been a special bond somehow at least from his perspective. But despite all that happens I would not call Lazzaro a masochist. I think he is just willing to do everything what it takes to fit in and help other people and he has a low self-esteem which results in him being willing to do stuff for others that others would not only not do for him, but not do for anybody and he doesn't even questions these actions. You can say that he is pure goodness really and it is depressing to watch how others use him because of that (pretty much everybody) instead of appreciating his spotless mind. An interesting movie that starts mediocre, but gets better the longer it goes and the ending is quite good to be honest. I recommend checking it out and judging from this I am curious what Rohrwacher has in store for us the coming years. Go see it.
Extraordinary
yorulmaz-113 May 2019
Dopey as Lazaro
jadepietro21 February 2019
GRADE: B-
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: An odd little film that wants to say more than it actually does.
JIM'S REVIEW: Happy as Lazzaro, a parable about working class strife, takes its time telling its story about the rich noble family and their haughty dismissal of the poor servants who work on their tobacco farm. The story takes place in an imaginary town called Inviolata where illegal indentured servitude seems to be the norm. Directed and written by Alice Rohrwacher, the film shows the rural poverty and oppression very well as it weaves its tale about a hard-working peasant named Lazarro (Adriano Tardiolo) who befriends Tancredi, a pampered and spoiled Marquis.
The problem with the screenplay is that Lazarro is a dolt, a good person without much sense or emotion. As written, he is a blank slate, a straight man without a sidekick. Everyone takes advantage of our hero, as does Tancredi who concocts a fake kidnapping scheme to get back at his cruel mother, Alfonsina, the Queen of Cigarettes. He assigns Lazarro the job of being his alleged captor, and his dim-witted foil gratefully accepts this role. As this inane plot spirals out of control and affects the whole village in major ways, so does Ms. Rohrwacher's plot spin out of control and affects the entire movie in major ways too.
Midway through this neo-realistic film, the entire tone changes into an mystical allegory of good vs. evil as the story becomes otherworldly with elements of magic realism involving wolves, stark imagery, time-traveling, odd unexplained events, and a "forever young" Lazarro. The two narratives just do not mesh, although I did enjoy the cleverness of second act reveal more than the heavy-handedness in the earlier segments.
Happy as Lazarro is an interesting venture, with its angelic title character playing an Italian Forest Gump figure whose sheer presence acts as a catalyst for everyone else involved. But the film never builds to an emotional and satisfying conclusion. It just goes about its meandering ways and celebrates its oddness, long past its due.
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: An odd little film that wants to say more than it actually does.
JIM'S REVIEW: Happy as Lazzaro, a parable about working class strife, takes its time telling its story about the rich noble family and their haughty dismissal of the poor servants who work on their tobacco farm. The story takes place in an imaginary town called Inviolata where illegal indentured servitude seems to be the norm. Directed and written by Alice Rohrwacher, the film shows the rural poverty and oppression very well as it weaves its tale about a hard-working peasant named Lazarro (Adriano Tardiolo) who befriends Tancredi, a pampered and spoiled Marquis.
The problem with the screenplay is that Lazarro is a dolt, a good person without much sense or emotion. As written, he is a blank slate, a straight man without a sidekick. Everyone takes advantage of our hero, as does Tancredi who concocts a fake kidnapping scheme to get back at his cruel mother, Alfonsina, the Queen of Cigarettes. He assigns Lazarro the job of being his alleged captor, and his dim-witted foil gratefully accepts this role. As this inane plot spirals out of control and affects the whole village in major ways, so does Ms. Rohrwacher's plot spin out of control and affects the entire movie in major ways too.
Midway through this neo-realistic film, the entire tone changes into an mystical allegory of good vs. evil as the story becomes otherworldly with elements of magic realism involving wolves, stark imagery, time-traveling, odd unexplained events, and a "forever young" Lazarro. The two narratives just do not mesh, although I did enjoy the cleverness of second act reveal more than the heavy-handedness in the earlier segments.
Happy as Lazarro is an interesting venture, with its angelic title character playing an Italian Forest Gump figure whose sheer presence acts as a catalyst for everyone else involved. But the film never builds to an emotional and satisfying conclusion. It just goes about its meandering ways and celebrates its oddness, long past its due.
Too long. Too boring.
debbbbi5 January 2019
There are 3 parts on this film: the first one is ok, the second is not, the third less than the second one... I understand it is supposed to be a fable, but it is quite difficult to find the point of it... Isn't every fable supposed to have a point?
I usually love italian films, but I didn't like this one at all.
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