Arrivederci to Antonio Capuano

Antonio Capuano presented three films that were rarely seen in the U.S. – Luna Rossa and Polvere di Napoli has already been released in Italy. Mario’s War premiered here at MoMA before its official release. Mario’s War was at the Toronto Film Festival 2005 and received critical acclaim. Antonio was here to introduce all of his films and add a little insight into them.

Luna Rossa (Red Moon), 2001, 116mins

AC: “This film is brutal, it’s harsh, it’s violent. It is like a punch in the face. If anyone one of you like to be hit in the face or even the teeth then this film is for you and you will enjoy it.”

Luna Rossa is Capuano’s version of an epic. It’s his King Lear, his Once Upon a Time…, his Godfather I & II, his Orestiadi. It has a classic, more polished feel then his previous films. There is a maturity in his style yet he continues to play with structure and editing. It tells the story of a Mafia family torn apart because of a younger offspring’s desire to live a separate. He discloses all the information to the court in lengthy flashbacks. This film gets in your face but the classic style puts your attacker at a distant, unlike his earlier documentary-like cinematography.

Polvere di Napoli (Napoli Dust), 1998, 100 mins

AC: “This film is one that can really be enjoyed. It is almost grotesque, surreal, Baroque. De Sica’s film from the 1950’s The Gold of Napoli made me want to go out and see if any of this gold was still around. All I found was ancient dust and with this film I opened the door and the wind kicked up all this dust.”

Polvere di Napoli is a very entertaining film. It’s funny and symbolic. More importantly though it is proof when an artist gets creative freedom, even with a monster of an art like film, wonderful things can happen. He can go with his emotion or an idea that just comes to him and not have to compromise it. In this film there are giraffe’s on the top of a roof. A man has a shark fin come out of his back. The voice’s of Toto and Peppino come out of two saxophone players and look-a-like Richard Gere, in this film called Richard Jeer, appears to an aspiring Neapolitan actor. This film carries with it all the characteristics that make up a Neapolitan but without the stereotypical postcard scenery.

La Guerra di Mario (Mario’s War) 2004, 100mins

AC: “This film is personal for me because it is about someone that I know. It feels like contraband. It is a story about a woman who is in her thirty and has a neglected desire for maternity so she decides to adopt a child. Previously she has a relationship with her partner and when a third character comes into their lives it complicates their relationship. For this one I want to sit in the audience and watch it with you.”

Mario’s War is Capuano’s most accessible film. His chaotic style has calmed down and the actors are given center stage, but through out the film Capuano uses the child to express his own creativity. Mario is dangerous, a young boy who has already murdered, who has already been a gang leader, who has already felt pain and been in the worst of situation is first presented to us in his present state suburban life. We never see the extreme violence that his has previous been apart of, but we can see it there – lurking in his eyes. There are like-hearted moments between the Mario and his stray dog Mimmo but that don’t last long because soon Mimmo suffers the misfortunes of Mario’s death wish. Mario is not to be trusted. The performances are strong even from the young boy whose confessions on camera are haunting. Valeria Golino’s plays a modern woman determination to be a good mother. Mario’s War has a more universal feel than Capuano’s previous inclusive Neapolitan films.

Antonio Capuano definitely sends little messages through his films about his views on art, sometime they are violent, other times they are misplaced, and other times they are lost. Every film no matter what the setting is or who the characters are, there is always some comments on television, on video games, on movies and on escapism through media. But then there are also comments on the betterment of people through the means of expression, creative freedom as a necessity, and the uses of imagination. Capuano uses his stories and the characters within them to express his own position in the art world while telling stories that are true to life.