Mar 01 2009
Controversial Cult Film Dillinger is Dead Makes Cinematic Coup at Brooklyn Showing
They say revolutions come in cycles—and perhaps cult films do, too. Italian director Marco Ferreri’s controversial masterpiece Dillinger is Dead has resurfaced yet again, this time at BAMcinématek.
The 1960’s were known for their rebellion, and Dillinger is true to its time. It is a film remarkably free of any convention, something of which modern films should take note. Dillinger has rarely been shown in the U.S., originally due to its devastating violence, but now because of its moralizing content. It is a treat to be able to see it on the big screen, and though it’s not catered to broad tastes, I walked away glad I had seen it.
Glauco, played by Michel Piccoli, is a disenchanted industrial engineer who spends his days designing gas masks, and his nights with his drugged-up shell of a wife. His life is claustrophobic, and it shows in his character—Piccoli infuses the role with the look of a broken man, but the heart and emotional breadth of a child. When he finds an old gun hidden in his kitchen, he paints it red with white polka dots, like a kid with a coloring book.
Ferreri makes it his task to highlight Glauco’s tedious nocturnal activities, which take place over only one night. As the ordinary events languidly play out in real time, the viewer often wonders if Ferreri is mocking the audience by making them sit through the mundanities of everyday life. Even when something intriguing happens—the uncovering of the gun, the seduction of his maid, and even the singular act of deeply unsettling violence—Glauco stays chillingly unemotional.
Ferreri’s minimalist touch greatly enhances the film. By leaving the camera immobile, he creates jarring shots that cut up the shapes of the bodies onscreen—a choice that makes the film interesting without being flashy. The bubbly pop soundtrack that accompanies the action only adds to the uneasiness one feels while watching Glauco’s stunted, infantile character onscreen.
What Ferreri manages to do with Dillinger is create a film that acts as a blank canvas and leaves the audience to wrestle with their own views and ideologies in response. No matter the year, the questions Dillinger raises are timeless. It may not be a date movie, but it does force viewers to stay active and take a decisive role—something missing in much of the mindless entertainment filling theaters today.
Dillinger is Dead is screening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, BAM Rose Cinemas, from Feb. 27 to March 5. BAM Rose Cinemas are located at 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn. $8 with a student ID.
Source - http://columbiaspectator.com
