Starring: Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Tea Falco, Sonia Bergamasco
Fourteen-year-old Lorenzo (Antinori) tells his mother
(Bergamasco) that he’s going on a skiing holiday with his class. Although the
class is going skiing, Lorenzo is using the trip as a ruse as he instead moves
into the basement of his apartment building for a few days. However, it’s not
long after he’s settled in that he has to share the space with his seldom seen
elder half-sister (Falco) who is going ‘cold turkey’ from her heroin addiction.
A film from Bernardo Bertolucci, one of Italy’s most renowned
living film-makers (best known for the controversial Last Tango In Paris (1972))
Me And You is a distinctly minimalistic film about the relationship between
siblings. Jacopo Olmo Antinori plays Lorenzo; his rebellious streak, adolescent
complexion and blazing blue eyes calling to mind a young Malcolm McDowall
whilst Tea Falco drives a more extreme performance as Lorenzo’s half-sister
Olivia, at times screaming and sweating out her addiction demons. There’s a slightly
incestuous element to the plot, with Lorenzo and Olivia sometimes seeming a
little close for comfort (and a theme driven home early on by a discussion
between Lorenzo and his mother, where Lorenzo hypothesises about a
post-apocalyptic future where he may have to reproduce with her); an element
that frankly isn’t needed, but in the less intense elements there are some
genuinely sweet and heart-felt moments between the two characters, aided by the
performances of the leads. Artsy, eccentric and often at times just
pretentious, the film has a few solid moments but isn’t worth catching for
those who aren’t followers of Bertolucci’s.
No comments:
Post a Comment