ROBERTO ANDÒ: THE CONFESSIONS/LE CONFESSIONI (2016)



Solemn message

Sicilian-born Roberto Andò directed a film a couple years ago with Toni Servillo, Viva la libertà/Long Live Freedom. This time the protean actor dons the robes of a monk, but the theme, as before, is modern politics, or rather, this time, economics. While Long Live Freedom's plot of a politician who escapes his problems using a nutty identical twin didn't really come off, it did give Servillo an opportunity to show off his thespian skills. He should not have so much to do this time, since he's a Carthusian, and they rarely speak. (See Philip Grüning's three-hour wordless documentary Into Great Silence.) This time the point is clearer, but at the risk of being heavy-handed. For some reason the monk, who's called Roberto Salus, is invited to a gathering of the IMF for a secret G8 summit by its leader, Daniel Roché (Daniel Auteuil), who wants to confess to him. The next ting we know, after a stiff ceremony for Roché's birthday and some very choppy, irritating editing, Roché is found asphyxiated with a plastic bag over his head. The bag belonged to Salus, and the movie turns into a kind of thriller with questions about whether it was really suicide. But the real revelation is that international bankers have cold hearts, and rich people are not very good for the masses of men. If this comes as a revelation, this well crafted but stilted and humorless film will appeal to you. Saus disobeys the Carthusians' vow of silence many times over, giving way to this film's overwhelming desire to lecture us. Also starring Connie Nielsen, Marie-Josée Croze, Pierfrancesco Favino, and Lambert Wilson.
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The Confessions/Le confessioni, 103 mins., opened in Italy in April 2016, and showed at Karlovy in July; scheduled for the Zurich, Vancouver, and Mill Valley film festivals in Sept. and Oct.