This one sees Stefano finally abandoning bigotry and the two lovers locked in each other’s arms, declaring their relationship to both their worlds in a climax that’s both unexpected and intuitively satisfying. Fresh voices in Italian independent cinema constantly struggle against an overwhelming tide of bigger-budgeted, better-distributed mediocrities, so it’s encouraging to see a film like Pure Hearts. ![]() The camera is as loose-limbed as the titular leads of Pure Hearts, which ends as it began - with a foot chase. Nicely nuanced, too, is the portrait of Agnese’s religious instructor, Don Luca (an avuncular Stefano Fresi), who quotes the Sermon on the Mount: “Happy are those who have a pure heart, for they will see God.” The film’s sympathies - that, of course, somebody sexually active before marriage can also be ‘pure’ - are clear, but its thesis is only strengthened by its refusal to paint the religious who think otherwise with broad brushstrokes.ĭe Paolis and cinematographer Claudio Cofrancesco (a camera operator on 2015’s Mia Madre, now lensing features) favor a series of handheld mid-shots, contrasting the comfortable pastel world of Agnese’s church group with the more derelict byways of Rome occupied by Stefano and his friends, including drug dealer Lele ( Edoardo Pesce). Marta apologizes to Agnese after asking a doctor to check that her chastity is intact, and she is clearly burdened by her past, which is never laid out but feeds her paranoia. Characters who have been caricatures elsewhere, like the pious, repressive mother, are never thrown under the bus here. She is only seventeen, lives with her mother (a harsh but devoted woman and a regular church-goer) and is about. Over all time Pure Heart Homecare has 26 reviews with. The director and co-writers Luca Infascelli, Carlo Salsa and Greta Scicchitano, critique assumptions about class - the cosseted Agnese isn’t above shoplifting, while Stefano’s parents are forced to move into a trailer identical to those inhabited by the Roma he so despises - as well as religion. Agnese and Stefano are profoundly different. Pure Heart Homecare has a Review Score of 9.9 (9.900) out of 10 based on reviews in the last 2 years. Stefano is trying to leave a life of petty crime behind, but he’s harassed at work by his “ gippo” neighbors, who endanger his continued employment by tearing down the parking lot’s fence and caving in windshields. ![]() The burgeoning romance is deftly handled by De Paolis, and in Liberati he’s found a charismatic anchor, one able to thread a convincing tenderness into a portrait of a kind man with ironclad prejudices.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |