L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano PAGE  16 THURS DAY,   JUNE  27,   2013 LA Film Fest – Bellocchio's meditation on life, love and politics AlESSANDRA MAStROIANNI Ethics, politics, family, religion, public and private life: all these aspects of life are questioned by one main "motif", the right to die. Once again Italian director Marco Bellocchio chose a difficult subject for his film, and brought it to the big screen now featured as the only new Italian selection at the LA Film Fest. Inspired by the story of Eluana Englaro, in permanent vegetative state for over 16 years before his father was legally allowed to interrupt her medically supplied nutrition and hydration, Dormant Beauty was expected to rouse The women of Dormant Beauty. From left, Maya Sansa, Isabelle Huppert, Alba Rohrwacher with Dormant Beauty (Bella Addormentata), presented at the last Venice Film Festival and strong reactions. But that never happened. It must be because of Bellocchio's attempt not to take part and to represent, instead, different opinions. A safe choice for some, a brave one for others. "I've been waiting several years to make this movie because I thought that the emotion of those days could have influenced my approach", said the director at the Venice Film Festival, referring to the last days of Eluana Englaro. "My intention wasn't to support a thesis [...] even though I think the film reveals my opinion. I'm not expecting it to spur hysterical reactions" he continued, "but questions". And so it was. Bellocchio tries to give voice to different individuals, showing the contradictions of a very delicate issue, and he does it with a remarkable cast, which includes some of the best actors active in the Italian panorama: Toni Servillo, Alba Rohrwacher , Maya Sansa, Michele Riondino and Gian Marco Tognazzi, as well as a terrific Isabelle Huppert. There's a divided politician called to vote for a law he doesn't sympathize with, and there's his daughter who joins a The women of Dormant Beauty. From left, Maya Sansa, Isabelle Huppert, Alba Rohrwacher pro-life movement; there's a doctor who watches over a drug addicted patients who wants to die; and there's a mother, exactress, who has abandoned her husband and son to take care of her daughter, in a coma for years. There are a few ingenuities in some scenes and dialogues, but even touching and straight-to- the-point moments. The world Bellocchio represents is maybe a little too "bourgeois", but it succeeds in showing how it is not only patient's life (or what is left of it) that is at stake, but also the life of all those around him. Let's wait for the post-LAFF critics to see what the American audience has to say. From the idea to the ar twork, through the eyes of the sculptor AlESSANDRA MAStROIANNI Sculptors have been producing amazing artworks for millennia. We stare at them and admire the beauty of the shapes, feel the passion and the energy they emanate. But what's behind their creation? "Through the Eyes of the Sculptor", written and produced by Gina Minervini, tries to follow and reconstruct the process that brings the modern sculptor from the idea to the final product. The documentary was recently presented at the Bowers Museum of Santa Ana (CA), and is part of the 2013: Year of the Italian Culture in the U.S., under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy and with the collaboration of the IIC in Los Angeles. "A sculpture comes alive in clay, dies in plaster and is reborn in marble." This is an intense process that precedes a sculptor's taking a hammer and chisel to stone. Minervini's documentary examines the intricate and creative process behind this ancient art form, as master sculptor Emmanuel Fillion, who owns a A view of the Carrara mountains, where the most prestigious marble comes from studio in Malibu, creates a new piece. Fillion travels to marble mountains of Italy, Pietrasanta and Carrara, to walk in the footsteps of masters. Here carving has been practiced for centuries, and that is the same marble Michelangelo used for his sumptuous sculptures. "In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me," he said, "shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it." In Italy and France, Fillion meets local artisans, who will help him transform his art into an art piece. "It's like an orchestra" explains Minervini, "where many people perform for a final result. This is a team of artisans, where anyone plays his role to give life to a final sculpture." "Through The Eyes of the Sculptor" highlights the marriage of personal vision and old-world craftsmanship that transforms raw stone into art, and artists into masters. Emmanuel Fillion works on one of his creations

• Cover