How to generate tension without special effects: Lorenzo Bianchini, an Italian director born in 1968, teaches us once again, who managed to amaze with “Oltre il forado” in 2013 and who confirms his talent with “L’angelo dei muri”, one of the leading films of the weekend in theaters.
Set in Trieste, it tells the life of Pietro, a man whose regular and solitary daily life is interrupted by an eviction order from his old apartment. The elderly man does not want to leave and devises a strategy to continue living secretly inside the house: a wall at the end of the long corridor of the apartment, a real vertical hiding place behind which to disappear. One day, however, a desperate mother comes to upset his plans.
Bianchini once again plays in subtraction, through a narrative minimalism and a rarefaction of the dialogues taken to the extreme: “The angel of the walls” is an essential product in all respects, which manages to keep the tension high by leveraging only the camera movements and excellent photography by Peter Zeitlinger, an artist known for his collaboration with Werner Herzog. Through a series of long shots, the director constantly offers us the point of view of the protagonist Pietro, who soon turns into a real voyeur: spying on the tenants of his apartment, it is as if he became a cinematic spectator who follows “the lives of the others “. A visual choice capable of increasing involvement from the first to the last minute.
A claustrophobic thriller
The plot may also make us think of “Parasite” by Bong Joon-ho, with whom “The angel of the walls” also shares a certain attention to socio-economic dynamics, but the name that comes to mind most during the vision is Roman Polanski , for how Bianchini uses the claustrophobic scenario of the apartment as the basis of the whole operation (from “Repulsion” to “The tenant on the third floor”, there are several titles by Polanski that can serve as possible links). however a fully recognizable style and, despite a script that struggles a little to be smooth in the central part, manages to thrill until the last, melancholy sequence. Although the twists are not too original, the film manages to involve and touch very deep chords during the viewing. The apartment will soon become a space of the soul for the protagonist, well interpreted by the actor Pierre Richard, another of the added values of the operation.
The handyman
Very different tones are those of the Spanish comedy «The handymen» by Neus Ballús. At the center is the story of Moha, a young Moroccan immigrant who starts working in a small plumbing company, located on the outskirts of the city. In the future, the young man should replace Pep, an elderly worker close to retirement, but from day one he doesn’t like the chief plumber, Valero. Despite his shyness, Moha is able to manage clients without problems; yet he continues to dislike Valero, who always seems to keep him under scrutiny. The stories of these three “handymen” quickly become surreal, resulting enjoyable and even hilarious in some sequences: the narrative base is very simple, but the way they are describing the daily jobs and portrayal of the quirky clients is believable and entertaining at the same time.The film lacks any noteworthy directorial flicks, but the brilliant writing and good cast rehearsal create a product capable of doing its fair share well. duty: there will not be much left to think about at the end of the vision, but you spend (about) an hour and a half really pleasant and it can be amply enough.