Enrico Ghezzi – film critic, populariser of arthouse cinema, film philosopher, journalist and also filmmaker – is just as important for Italian cinema as Rossellini, Visconti or Bertolucci. After viewing this three-hour-plus autobiographical magnum opus, on which the ageing and ailing bard collaborated with Alessandro Gagliardo, many will regard this assertion as less controversial. Ghezzi’s highly intellectual and, at the same time, elemental quest to discover life in film and film in life is reminiscent of an erupting volcano and prowling beast of prey; the sophisticated chain of spellbinding moments from across the history of film (Ferrara, Tarr, Straub-Huillet, Parajanov, Bene, Tsukamoto) is intersected with scenes from Ghezzi’s private life, whose intimacy is left undisturbed. An invaluable gift for current and future cinephiles.

Italy
2022, 193 min

Section: Imagina
Director: Enrico Ghezzi, Alessandro Gagliardo
Screenplay: Enrico Ghezzi, Alessandro Gagliardo
Dir. of Photography: Renato Berta
Music: Iosonouncane
Sound: Giuseppe D'Amato, Alessandro Gagliardo, Marco Saitta
Editor: Enrico Ghezzi, Alessandro Gagliardo