La Rabbia reviews
Review by on 26 Sep 2008
LA RABBIA (THE ANGER) is split into two parts, the first part by Pasolini and the second by Guareschi. Both filmmakers use documentary footage (although not identical images) to show central political events, social conflicts and cultural phenomena from mainly the 1950s and 1960s. And in addition, they provide the text accompanying the footage. It spans from images of the Cold War, the Hungary Revolution in 1956 over upheavals in Congo, Algeria and Cuba to the Russian space adventure and the economic boom in the early 1960s.
Part I, from the very first frame, is unmistakably Pasolini in his weaving together of polemical and lyrical, political and prosaic. He intersperses recurrent frames of the corpses of slaughtered people in the streets with Sophia Loren watching eels being skinned. He evokes the fear of a nuclear catastrophe and hails the coming of Pope John XXIII all the while extolling the virtues of Marxism. In the second part, Guareschi hits a different note than Pasolini and at first glance it is altogether lighter and more optimistic, but he is no less “manipulative” in his use of effects than his counterpart. Whereas Pasolini emphatically sings the praises of Marxism, Guareschi abhors it and considers it the root of all evil.
It would be unfair to both Pasolini and Guareschi to reduce the film to being a mere juxtaposition of two opposing ideologies as it is so much more, namely a unique watching experience.
Charlotte Hansen, Festival Daily
LA RABBIA (THE ANGER) is split into two parts, the first part by Pasolini and the second by Guareschi. Both filmmakers use documentary footage (although not identical images) to show central political events, social conflicts and cultural phenomena from mainly the 1950s and 1960s. And in addition, they provide the text accompanying the footage. It spans from images of the Cold War, the Hungary Revolution in 1956 over upheavals in Congo, Algeria and Cuba to the Russian space adventure and the economic boom in the early 1960s. Part I, from the very first frame, is unmistakably Pasolini in his weaving together of polemical and lyrical, political and prosaic. He intersperses recurrent frames of the corpses of slaughtered people in the streets with Sophia Loren watching eels being skinned. He evokes the fear of a nuclear catastrophe and hails the coming of Pope John XXIII all the while extolling the virtues of Marxism. In the second part, Guareschi hits a different note than Pasolini and at first glance it is altogether lighter and more optimistic, but he is no less “manipulative” in his use of effects than his counterpart. Whereas Pasolini emphatically sings the praises of Marxism, Guareschi abhors it and considers it the root of all evil.
It would be unfair to both Pasolini and Guareschi to reduce the film to being a mere juxtaposition of two opposing ideologies as it is so much more, namely a unique watching experience.
Charlotte Hansen, Festival Daily
Film details
La Rabbia
DEREK JARMAN: REMEMBERED / REVIVALS
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Director: Giovanni Guareschi
Actor: Giorgio Bassani
Actor: Renato Guttuso
Actor: Gigi Artuso
Actor: Carlo Romano
Director: Giovanni Guareschi
Actor: Giorgio Bassani
Actor: Renato Guttuso
Actor: Gigi Artuso
Actor: Carlo Romano
Italy, 1963.
104 mins. Italian with English subtitles.
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