Grandissimo!

“Looking for something else,” said by Marco Bellocchio himself, is the driving force behind Marco Bellocchio, le cinéma de la révolte à la tendresse, a fine, candid documentary.

THE SUBJECT : The trajectory of one of today's leading Italian filmmakers: Marco Bellocchio.

THE METHOD: A traditional, chronological account, featuring narration by a female voice-over and testimonials from notable figures, including remarkable actress Paola Pitagora, who starred in his  debut feature, Fists in the Pocket (1965), critic René Marx and Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, one of his children… The discussions of Bellocchio are interspersed with film clips and archival footage that includes interviews with the filmmaker.

BONUS: Understanding how Marco Bellocchio’s very unique cinematic style was born in a tiny town called Bobbio in Emilia-Romagna, and how it developed, evolved and was transformed. The documentary adopts a mysterious tone, much like the wanderings of the human mind, whereas its narrative, by contrast, sticks to concrete facts. Pivotal moments in the Italian filmmaker’s career, including the controversy surrounding erotic thriller Devil in the Flesh (1986) and his collaboration with psychoanalyst Massimo Fagioli (which marked a turning point in his career) are addressed. Through well-chosen excerpts, director Sandra Marti explains how Marco Bellocchio moved from a world of anger to one of dreams. We peer as deeply as possible into the mind of an extraordinary artist who, as his son describes him, “walks onto a set and paints cinema !”

Virginie Apiou