Baaria is Giuseppe Tornatore's lush and romantic reimagining of the path of one person, a Sicilian who grows, marries, has children, matures and ages, compiling a rich breadth of experiences along the way. It is also the tale of a typical village and the entertaining dynamics of small-town life where everyone knows everyone else's business. Tornatore is a master at recreating memories and the sensations that accompany them. His eye for detail and the magic moment is on full display in a film that will remind many of his magnificent Cinema Paradiso.
Peppino, the nickname of the boy at the story's heart, is a tough little kid in the thirties, used to the rough-and-tumble world of Baaria (local slang for Tornatore's native Bagheria), a hot and dusty Sicilian village with one main street. His adventures are many and his memories singular: men gambling in the local square, goats eating his schoolbooks, and the enchantment of silent film screenings. All of this plays out against the darker canvas of black-shirted fascists strutting in the streets, the declaration of war and the ecstatic moment of liberation when the Allies land on the island.
Slowly, a man and an individual is formed. In the chaotic tumult of post-war Baaria, Peppino (now played by Francesco Scianna) joins the Communist Party. Coming from a poor family and witnessing the humiliations meted out by the local landowners, he feels that socialism is the road to justice and a fairer world. When he falls head over heels for the raven-haired Mannina (Margareth Madè), however, her parents hold his party membership against him. As Peppino ages, success rubs up against failure, and pain mingles with happiness. In Baaria, life can be simple or complicated, full of humour or sadness, but it is never uninteresting; it simply flows.Tornatore is in love with his world, his characters and his landscape. Everything comes alive under his touch. He has an unerring ability to summon the dreams and aspirations of a young man fighting for his beliefs, while also revelling in the exuberance and comedy of existence. Baaria captures the wonder of a lifetime of living.
Piers Handling
Giuseppe Tornatore was born in Bagheria and is one of Italy's most renowned directors. His
Cinema Paradiso (89) won the Academy Award® for best foreign-language film. His subsequent films include
Everybody's Fine (91),
A Pure Formality (95),
The Star Maker (96),
The Legend of 1900 (99) and
Malena (00).
Baaria (09) is his latest feature.