Il Futuro del mondo passa da qui

It begins like Blow Up. One misty autumn day, the filmmaker takes a photo from a bridge on the edge of his town. Yet, the beauty of the landscape between two branches of the river soon unmasks a presence that first escapes notice: the riverbanks are inhabited. Without the presence of the destitute–immigrants from southern Italy, travellers and drug addicts–this no man’s land “would be a rubbish tip”. What does an outdoor squat become when it has been established for thirty years? Arable land, to which Angelo, Gerardo and other makeshift farmers lay claim. The film’s utopian title suggests making this marginal spot into a centre; it is the rest of the world that lives on the fringe. When one of the inhabitants recalls his former job as caretaker, doesn’t he say that he worked “in the enclave of the rich”? For the filmmaker, the centre of the world is here, where the road ends, where there is nothing but water and stones. Hence a sober but clear-cut construction: for the landscape static shots, for the inhabitants a hand-held camera that peers into everyone’s tinkerings, crucial down to the tiniest detail as they are techniques for survival. Sequences almost devoid of dialogue alternate with individual story inserts written on a black background–a formal choice that brings to the initial photography project a singularly high quality of listening.

Charlotte Garson