My Fourth Film From the Venice Film Festival

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MOVIE REVIEW
Burning Hearts (Ti mangio il cuore)
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Genre: Drama, Romance
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 1h 55m
Director(s): Pippo Mezzapesa
Writer(s): Antonella Gaeta (screenplay,) Pippo Mezzapesa (screenplay,) Davide Serino (screenplay)
Cast: Elodie, Francesco Patanè, Francesco Di Leva, Lidia Vitale, Giovanni Trombetta, Letizia Pia Cartolaro, Giovanni Anzaldo, Gianni Lillo, Brenno Placido, Tommaso Ragno, Michele Placido
Where To Watch: Premieres 9/4 at the Venice Film Festival, in Italian cinemas on September 22

A nominee for the 2022 Venice Horizons Award, a category I haven’t seen many films from, so I was happy to check out a nominee this year. I would consider this an “art” film; it was shot in black and white, telling the story of forbidden love, reminiscent of Romeo & Juliet.

Director Pippo Mezzapesa has released several documentaries and short films, this being his foray into feature films. It was a beautiful example of what can be done when care is taken to show a movie the way the director envisions it.

This isn’t a film for everyone, and it made me think of the recent release ROMA (yes, because it was also in black and white, and not for any other reason.) That film had a passionate fanbase, but it wasn’t for you; if you didn’t like the style or the slow burn, you knew it almost instantly.

While I’m traditionally not a fan of slow-burn art films out in the wild, there was something special here. Maybe because it’s my third-ever screener for the Venice Film Festival, perhaps because I was a little let down by the previous one, but even beyond that, it was so moving. The images on the screen painted a picture that made you feel more of the movie than if you were just watching it.

The performances in the film were almost hypnotic, and I often caught myself in a trance-like state. Initially, I thought that may have been because of the slower pace, but the further into the film I got, the more I realized it was because of these characters that were telling this subdued story.

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