Customer Reviews

Quattro Volte [Blu-ray] [Import]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This unique film has been extravagantly praised by A.O. Scott of the New York Times, so i won't do that here. I'll just try to explain why you might want to see a 90-minute contemplation of a remote village in the mountains of Calabria, viewed mostly in long shots, with long takes during which the camera hardly moves, with no dialogue and no spoken narrative, in which hardly anything happens except the simple routines of daily life. My explanation will not succeed, but i have to say something.

First, although this film is the very opposite of an action movie, some things happen in it that you have to see to believe. I'm reluctant to say what they are (no spoilers here), but i can say that the distinction between documentary and drama is demolished by this film. Does this kind of thing happen all the time way back in the Italian mountains, and the filmmaker was lucky enough to capture it -- or was it scripted, and he somehow got it performed with totally authentic spontaneity? We have no way of knowing from this disc, as there is no making-of included. In fact there are no extras at all, except a few stills and the trailer -- which, unlike the film itself, does have a voice-over, and does help to explain the idea behind the film (and its title).

As far as voices are concerned, this is practically a silent movie -- when the villagers talk to each other we are too far away to catch what they are saying (even if we knew the language). There is no music either, unless you count church bells and goat bells. Yet the soundtrack is an absolutely vital part of the film. Again, you have to hear it for yourself to see why.

The action here, if we can call it that, is viewed from a distance, with the crucial exception of the four main characters: a very old goatherder, a very young goat (we actually witness its birth), a very large tree, and a mound of charcoal. The story -- and the film does have a definite story -- follows each of these, in the order i've given, often with intimate close-ups. There is something about the contrast and juxtaposition between these close-ups and the broad view of simple village life that accounts for the mysterious effect of this wordless experience. It not only erases the boundary between documentary and drama, but also the boundary between the sacred and the mundane.

As for the format, i can certainly recommend blu-ray because you need high definition to make out the details in the many long shots, which is important since the film gives you plenty of time to contemplate these scenes. Then there are those intimate details, which you might not even notice ordinarily, that take on deep significance here ... if you value both the contemplative and the unusual among films, i can recommend this one whole-heartedly.