Film - Blood of my Blood
Director\Screenwriter: Marco Bellocchio
Starring: Roberto Herlitzka, Pier Giorgio Bellocchi, Lydiya liberman, Fausto Russo Alesi, Alba Rohrwacher
Starring: Roberto Herlitzka, Pier Giorgio Bellocchi, Lydiya liberman, Fausto Russo Alesi, Alba Rohrwacher
In a small northern Italian village in the 17th Century, the trial of a young nun is taking place in a monastery - accused of plotting with the devil to tempt a priest (who commits suicide and thus cannot be buried in consecrated ground) the nun if forced to endure a series of barbaric tests. Anxious to clear his dead brother of blame, his aristocratic twin brother attends the trial and witnesses the torments of the nun. She refuses to confess to consorting with any devil and submits to the tests without complaint. Her male tormentors are determined to make her confess and shift the blame of the suicide onto her, but if she passes the tests, does it not make her an innocent saint or a martyr? What then does that make them?
Centuries later, the isolated village is ruled by a coven of vampires, head of which is the ancient Count. He is now the sole occupant of the monastery where the previous events took place and finds that he is called upon to protect it from a Russian developer and save the town from investigation by the authorities which, in exchange for their privacy, the vampires have made a haven for various scroungers off the state.
In this tale that that draws on magical realism and gothic horror, these two historical periods intertwine to create a satirical allegory commenting on religion, politics, gender inequality and social interrelationships in contemporary Italy. It throws out many questions regarding ethics, religion and corruption and doesn’t necessarily give easy answers but instead plays upon the mind and emotions of the viewer.
Copyright R.H. Zelen – ©RenZelen 2015 All rights reserved.
Image - BFI.
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