Directed by Edoardo Gabbriellini and written by Nicola Lagioia, a young man’s interrupted coming-of-age as he searches for his place in the world, seen through his eyes: a city whose cracks, loneliness, and contradictions seem to lead inevitably toward an unexplained tragedy. Starring: Emanuele Maria Di Stefano, Valerio Mastandrea, Simona Senzacqua, Roberta Mattei and Gaia Merlonghi.
There is always something disturbingly fascinating about films that follow tragic events but don’t exist within that tragedy, instead they follow the people who are unknowingly wandering through their final days, while the audience constantly feels the looming disaster which awaits them. It completely shifts your perspective of normal, everyday interactions, and that’s what Edoardo Gabbriellini and Nicola Lagioia do with The City of the Living. It does not exist to delve into the gory details of what happened to Luca Varani, but to portray his world, his family, his coming-of-age story, not his murder.
That’s not to say his murder doesn’t feature in the film, or play a key part of the story, but it is not the main focus. The filmmakers limit how long they spend in that moment of time, they make the point efficiently and impactfully. What Gabbriellini and Lagioia create instead is a lesson in both empathy and in appreciating what you have, while you have it. Gabbriellini builds a quietly growing, but inescapably deep sadness with his direction. He also does a wonderful job of integrating the queer vein of this story, you can feel it in his angle choices, not simply the characters and events.
Amine Messadi’s cinematography perfectly matches the sincerity and depth of the The City of the Living. It’s interesting to see a tale of youth, with the usual hormones, arguments, and messiness, told with a truly sincere edge, but of course, a big part of that is the weight of knowing what’s to come for Luca (Emanuele Maria Di Stefano). However, another big part of it is the excellent performance from Di Stefano. He easily creates a compelling, relatable, sympathetic character, who’s easy to follow. Not something that’s always so easy with a young man in his early twenties, with all the typical pitfalls of masculinity and ego, but it does it very well.
There’s also a terrific ensemble behind him, particularly Valerio Mastandrea who brings a warm and caring presence, even in times of loss. While Gaia Merlonghi gives a great portrayal of youth, dealing with grief at such a young age, and how there is no normal path to follow. Those latter moments are an interesting exploration of how after this unbelievably horrific experience, life does keep going, and how people figure out dealing with the reality of their loved ones being with them one moment and gone the next.
The City of the Living is fascinating to watch and Edoardo Gabbriellini and Nicola Lagioia make a lot of great choices to explore this story in a non-traditional way. Looking to delve into empathy and family, rather than simply violence and shock. The direction is thoughtful, the cinematography is filled with emotion, the editing is purposeful, the writing finds a surprising amount of heart in such dark times, and it’s led by a terrific, authentic performance from Emanuele Maria Di Stefano.
FilmCarnage.com 