Review: "Abacuc" (2014) by Luca Ferri

I had the chance to see “Abacuc” by Luca Ferri at the Macro in Via Nizza as part of the film show “Fuorinorma”.

Shot on Super8 in an occasionally slightly greenish-hued B&W, the film is a convincing representation of a void both emotional and topographic.

An overweight nobody wandering around places which have lost any significance, Abacuc leads a nonlife amid visual phantoms such as illustrated books, quaint photos of deceased people and female mannequin heads. Solitary boat trips alternate with regular visits to the cemetery in a catatonic repetition of the same old gestures.

Albeit rather extraordinary in his size, Abacuc might be anybody and his life might well stand for everybody’s life. Nothing changes, and nothing may ever change for somebody like him who cannot love but a projection of himself. In the end nobody will come to Abacuc's rescue. But in all this there’s also a hint of comedy, because, in the director’s words, “nothing is funnier than reiteration”.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of five

  ***

 

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(P)review: Somebody is making great movies out of Kafka stories (not 'The Metamorphosis')

I always thought it was a shame that some great short stories by Kafka which are lesser know than the constantly mentioned 'The Metamorphosis' had never been made into movies. Apparently, I was wrong.  

Forrest Rice has made a splendid short movie based on 'In The Penal Colony' which I strongly recommend. I was glad to notice that it's quite close to how I imagined things to be while reading the story, including how the apparatus looked. It shows pretty well that you don't have to change too much in the original plot to have a successful adaptation of a story by Kafka which retains both the tragic and grotesque features of the original text. 

I haven't seen yet his version of 'The Judgment', but it definitely looks promising and faithful to the original story.

I might write more about Rice's work later, it is really intriguing.