Commander Favino, Emily Blunt salesman of pain, zpetek’s New Olympus and 7 other films at the cinema or in streaming

2023-11-04 10:49:03

COMMANDER. In the rooms

First reading Commander is a pacifist film: it talks about solidarity, the law of the sea and the law of the strongest, the burning wall of war, hatred, cannons and rifles. In reality, we are faced with a courageous memoir in an era of landings, denied reception, merchants of death, refugees and consequent political controversies. At the center, a little-known episode of the Second World War. We are in 1940, when the submarine Cappellini of the Italian Royal Navy came across a Belgian merchant ship, the Kabalo, which unexpectedly opened fire as it was carrying secret war material destined for the English. A battle broke out: the Belgian crew got the worst of it.
The exceptional fact is the decision taken by the Italian commander, the highly decorated Lieutenant Commander Salvatore Todaro (1908-1942), played by Pierfrancesco Favino with his usual skill and a consistent Venetian accent. Todaro chose to save the 26 Kabalo men, otherwise condemned to death, to take them with him on the Cappellini and then disembark them in the Azores. Todaro was not a dissident fascist. He believed in principles: he was a man of one piece, D’Annunzio and a bit of a dandy, a stubborn smoker, an expert in yoga, with a broken back due to military hardships: to soothe the pain he used morphine. His men respected him and feared him. He was a melancholy motivator, capable of leaving the suffering sailor stranded.
Upon departure, we see him lying in the bathtub next to a beautiful lady (Silvia D’Amico), waiting to board. The port of La Spezia, desolate, swept by the wind, becomes the crossroads between life and death in the damp cold of the night. Cappellini set sail with the mission of eliminating enemy boats that had crossed his route. Why did you save them?, the Nazis asked Todaro threateningly when the Kabalo affair became known. Answer: Because we are Italian. Not so much the Italians-good-people who make do and do their tricks. Rather, a group of capable, competent men, with an uncommon dose of humanity, marching singing Un’ora sola ti I would like, a 1937 song made famous later by Ornella Vanoni.
Todaro’s submariners know well that they may not return: they have a sense of duty, they feel responsibility. Todaro sees the former coral reef officer of the Gulf of Naples die who volunteers to free the stranded submarine, he has gnocchi cooked with tomato when things are going well and when food is scarce he asks the cook to list a phantom menu with the most detailed details appetizing. He suffers in silence so as not to depress the company, he confides in his friend of many battles Marcon, who advises him against crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and crossing the Atlantic.
The fresh air of the bridge contrasts with the rancid atmosphere of the airtight rooms during navigation. The soldiers obey, they fear the storm of destiny. They look for a hold in the affections left on shore: letters, photographs, small memories. Happiness comes back safe and sound. Todaro faced with continuous choices. He praises the law of the sea against the written and unwritten rules of war, he would like to give meaning to an otherwise empty patriotic existence. The belly of the submarine becomes a closed theatrical space, even psychologically. The dialogues between the comrades, written by De Angelis with Sandro Veronesi, are essential, they underline the actions.
The director Edoardo De Angelis, until now an interpreter of intimate stories, of suburbs and crime, alludes to the invasion of Ukraine and the Russian bombs, recalls the creeping cold wars, the ethnic massacres and the conflicts in the Middle Eastern area which have become everyday occurrences. At sea we are all at the same distance from God, it is said in the film. De Angelis is an empathetic, naturalistic director, good at building pathos and managing the emotional flow of the stories he tells, attentive to the daily epic. Todaro’s gesture was born in a context very far from the current one: so far as to make the past-present connection impervious with the risk of dispersing the educational value of that exceptional gesture of solidarity. The adventure, well-cut and spectacular, is also an ethical fresco. The message is that war is always a senseless act against civilization and humanity. History teaches that forgetting about it is expensive.

COMMANDER by Edoardo De Angelis
(Italy, 2023, duration 120′, 01 Distribution)
with Pierfrancesco Favino, Massimiliano Rossi, Silvia D’Amico, Giorgio Cantarini, Johan Heldenbergh, Giuseppe Brunetti, Lucas Tavernier
Rating: *** out of 5
In the rooms

November 4, 2023 | 08:06

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