Martone's wisdom of looking at the world like Goliarda
The only Italian film in competition at Cannes, 'Fuori' recounts the prison experience of the author of 'The Art of Joy'. Very good Valeria Golino
3' min read
Key points
- The 1980s
- Out of prison
- The Rebirth of Goliarda
- Very good Valeria Golino
- The author
- Rome of jovial beauty
3' min read
Fuori, the only Italian film in competition at Cannes, in cinemas from 22 May, is a subtle balance between the outside and the inside: inside and outside of oneself, inside and outside of society, inside and outside of prison. Mario Martone knows how to manoeuvre these thin walls with extreme skill and so does his leading actress, Valeria Golino, who plays Goliarda Sapienza.
The 1980s
It is the 1980s and the writer of The Art of Joy is forced into prison (for five days in reality) for stealing jewellery from a friend's house. Inside she is greeted with suspicion, like a spy. You can tell by the clothes she wears, the way she behaves that she is not someone used to being in the slammer. She is subjected to mistrust and isolation by the other inmates, but when, responding to aggression, she shows the wildness of the others, she is accepted by that world of extreme, but genuine feelings for better or worse. She befriends above all Roberta (Matilda De Angelis) and Barbara (Elodie) and is co-opted into their shady and generous circles.
Out of prison
Once out of prison Goliarda realises she has no future. Too 'old' to be a waitress or to be hired as a cleaner, too inexperienced to do any other kind of work, too compromised to be rehabilitated by the well-to-do society of Rome whose expectations and standards she has betrayed. She finds herself lost: the only person who makes her happy and who stands by her side is Roberta, also released from prison and unfit for life outside. What Roberta does and what she did to earn her imprisonment, Goliarda never asked. Perhaps she is just a common delinquent, or perhaps much more.
The Rebirth of Goliarda
What is important is that in life outside only the company of Roberta and Barbara makes Goliarda come alive, makes her feel alive. Especially Roberta, for the care she shows towards the writer's talent and for the sincere human closeness, even in her slabby and manipulative way, probably the only one she knows.
Bravissima Valeria Golino
Valeria Golino was excellent in mastering, without overplaying her hand, the psychological inside and outside of Goliarda Sapienza, a character the actress and director knows well from having directed the television series The Art of Joy, based on Sapienza's book.
