I Fidanzati / The Fiancés (Italy, 1962) 77 min B&W DIR-SCR: Ermanno Olmi. PROD: Goffredo Lombardo. MUSIC: Gianni Ferrio. DOP: Lamberto Caimi. CAST: Anna Canzi, Carlo Cabrini. (Criterion)
Ermanno Olmi’s next film after his classic Il Posto (also released by Criterion) is another deceptively simple passage but with layered meanings. The structure for this picture is actually quite complex. While the engaged man Giovanni (Carlo Cabrini) is separated from his fiancée Liliana (Anna Canzi) as he journeys to the city for a job opportunity, he constantly flashes back to his precious moments with the woman, to examine their relationship. He wonders if she still loves him; the more he dwells upon their bittersweet times, he realizes his frustration in bringing things to the next level, and how she tries to hang on to this fragile union in her own subtle ways.
While perhaps not as profound as Il Posto or Tree of the Wooden Clogs, this film is indicative of Ermanno Olmi’s love of everyday people (which is why he was considered a late addition to the Neorealist period, when Italian cinema was giving itself over to the likes of Fellini and Antonioni), and meticulous looks at their everyday environment. To him, a shot of someone getting out of bed is just as crucial to understanding the character as any form of exposition.
This disc also features an English-language trailer, and a 30-minute interview in which Olmi muses over his long career.
Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue #16.
Greg Woods
Greg Woods has been a film enthusiast since his teens, and began his writing "career" at the same time- prolific in capsule reviews of everything he had watched, first on index cards, then those hardcover dollar store black journals, then an old Mac IIsi. He founded The Eclectic Screening Room in 2001, as a portal to share his film love with the world, and find some like-minded enthusiasts along the way. In addition to having worked in the film industry for over two decades, he has been a co-programmer of films at Trash Palace, and a programmer/co-founder of the Toronto Film Noir Syndicate. He has also written for Broken Pencil, CU-Confidential, Micro-Film, and is currently working on his first novel. His secret desire is for someone to interview him for a podcast or a DVD extra.