L'ISOLA ALLA DERIVA
(An Island Adrift)
|
Su Fern
Directed by: Tommaso Mottola (1993)
Screenings: Friday 6th Nov., 6.30PM, Sunday 8th Nov., 6.30pm
Venue: Guinness Theatre, Substation
Italian Film Festival: 6 - 9 Nov: Full Schedule Details.
This Review Filed: November 6, 1998.
L'ISOLA ALLA DERIVA is the chilling tale of a nine-year-old boy's obsession with dying. Ferdinando, in the midst of attempting to take his own life, chances upon a lady who offers him the chance to die on his ninth birthday, promising that upon death he will be taken on a trip to a beautiful island adrift in the sea. "Mademoiselle," as she is known throughout the film, joins him to escape from her mundane and dreary life of caring for an old dying Commander. The Commander is never seen but heard in the background, but appears on this mysterious island where he is healthy and well.
When Ferdinando arrives on the island, he is the only young person there. At first he is content to stay despite the lack of companionship. The peace and quiet is just what he desires. But Ferdinando soon realises that the island is not what it seems. He encounters the Commander who questions Ferdinandoís presence on the island. Together they attempt to leave but their attempts to escape the island result in surprising consequences.
This film may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it certainly is food for thought. Very much like a thriller, you wait in anticipation for the conclusion of the film to bring answers about the plights of Ferdinando and the others. Yet the end brings about only more questions and mysteries. The audience is left with a bitter after-taste, like with an unfinished book. Anyone who requires instant gratification from the film will be sorely disappointed because one comes out of this film feeling dazed and confused. There are no answers to death, no simple scientific equation about the end of life. Death does not bring complete retraction from the world and the pain it causes you. It is idealistic to think that. Yet for others, death might be their only real means of relief. Death becomes their reality. At the end, you feel tired and drained as you exit the theatre, trying desperately to figure out what it all means.
What is noticeable throughout the film is the lack of change in scenery. Director Tommaso Mottola uses the absence of change as a constant, a thorn in the side of the audience as you wonder why it never alters in temperament. This builds up at the end to when the scenery does finally change, and the plastic appearance of the island breaks apart into chaos and hopelessness.
However, all is not gloom and doom. Arianna, Ferdinandoís friend and her mysterious twin sister Aurora, punctuate the film with moments of comic relief. Their charming performances as his friends and constant companions endear them to you as you watch them get drawn in to Ferdinando's antics with increasing exasperation. Their responses are that of young children, but at the same time logical and sensible. You have no choice but to laugh at their actions and reactions.
As always in foreign films, unless you are proficient in the language, the subtitles almost never sufficiently conveys the full meaning of their words. You are left wondering if the real reason for your confusion is the result of the loss of true meaning of their words or simply because of the twisted and drawn out plot.
All in all, however, L'ISOLA ALLA DERIVA opens the Italian film festival with a promise of unusual and intriguing stories woven in a way that will make you long to return for more. This is a good introduction to foreign films. And for avid foreign film buffs, it will definitely not disappoint.
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