Reviews

Leopardi / Il Giovane Favoloso (2014) - Film

Quick Summary: Almost entirely shot on location, this tender portrait shows early 19th-century poet Giacomo Leopardi to be both brilliant and profoundly unhappy.

Title: Leopardi (Il Giovane Favoloso)

Release: 2014

Director: Mario Martone

Starring:

Elio Germano (Giacomo Leopardi)

Michele Riondino (Antonio Ranieri)

In Leopardi, director Mario Martone and writer Ippolita Di Majo have created not only a compelling reconstruction of the life of romantic poet Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837, here portrayed by Elio Germano), but also of the world he inhabited. Both the poet and his world are presented with an air of wonder, and - surprisingly, given the unhappiness of Leopardi's story - a lot of joy.

The film is almost entirely shot on-location, and the locations in question are beautiful. The eldest son of a noble family, Leopardi and his two siblings grew up in the largest home in a tiny town, overlooking farmland and woods. The house is defined both by the extensive library maintained by Leopardi's father, and by beautiful gardens. Both are shown repeatedly in the film. Leopardi's home town, the cities of Florence and Naples, and the Campanian villa where he lived his last years are lovingly shot, bathed in honey-toned sunshine or cold, wintery light, depending on the season and the emotional tenor of the scene.

Leopardi himself is presented as a sympathetic but profoundly unhappy character. We are shown a man who thinks in poetry rather than prose, a man who inspires intense, loyal friendships but never romantic love, a man who sees beauty everywhere but still finds the world a cruel, unjust place. Giacomo's problems start early; his overbearing parents really do want what's best for their children, but what they think is best is an incredibly poor match for their son's personality. They don't realise that their son doesn't want to be a poet, he is a poet - poetry is as basic to him as breathing. As he grows older, Leopardi suffers a series of romantic disappointments, and his health gradually fades; Pott's disease (a form of tuberculosis) disfigures him and leaves him in almost constant pain.

This isn't to say that the film is composed of nothing but unrelieved misery. Leopardi has loyal, caring friends; adoring younger siblings; and a - usually amusing - opinion about everything. His likeable, contrary personality adds a lot to the movie. My favourite moment in the film is when, having been told by his doctor that he should eat more vegetables and avoid ice cream at all costs, Giacomo immediately goes to a café and orders a large bowl of frozen vanilla goodness. Actor Elio Germano does a wonderful job of portraying a wide range of emotions, from depression through frustration through professional satisfaction.

In the end, the film-makers leave us with a reflection drawn from one of Leopardi's final poems. There are flowers which grow on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, actually providing beauty in that inhospitable place. No matter how beautiful the flowers are, though, it is only a matter of time before the mountain that sustains their existence destroys them in a flood of fire.