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Happy as Lazzaro

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Happy as Lazzaro

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Summary

Fantasy drama starring Adriano Tardolio and Alba Rohrwacher. A kindly and naive young peasant befriends the rebellious son of the local landowner - a pairing that has major consequences for the whole community.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

David Parkinson

Writer/director Alice Rohrwacher has created a beguiling marvel that starts out like a bucolic fable produced by Ermanno Olmi or the Taviani brothers, before daringly morphing into a tale of urban realism that Pier Paolo Pasolini might have devised in reworking Pinocchio. The unwitting antihero at the centre of this transformation is Lazzaro (Adriano Tardiolo), who recalls the sort of put-upon naif played by Giulietta Masina in husband Federico Fellini's neorealist phase. Not only is Lazzaro callously exploited by his neighbours in the remote estate of Inviolata, but he's also cynically duped by the rebellious son of a tobacco-growing marchesa (Nicoletta Braschi), who has kept the villagers in unknowing servitude for years. Some may baulk at the audacious shifts in tone and place, but Rohrwacher's conviction helps to offset the seeming anachronisms that reflect with acerbic acuity on the Italian character and the nation's socio-economic travails. Rohrwacher's third feature is challenging, compelling and exceptionally played, while cinematographer Hélène Louvart's evocative use of a Super-16 format reinforces the mood of faux nostalgia.

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7.5/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameLazzaroAdriano TardioloAntoniaAlba RohrwacherTancrediTommaso RagnoYoung AntoniaAgnese GrazianiYoung TancrediLuca ChikovaniUltimoSergi LopezNicolaNatalino BalassoMarchesa Alfonsina De LunaNicoletta Braschi

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Crew

rolenameDirectorAlice Rohrwacher

Details

Theatrical distributor

Modern Films

Released on

2019-04-05

Languages

Italian

Guidance

Some violence and swearing

Available on

DVD

Formats

Colour

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