“The Hummingbird”, a disappointing adaptation of Veronesi’s novel

2023-08-01 19:46:21

The Hummingbird *

by Francesca Archibugi

Film Italy, 2 h 06

A perilous undertaking to adapt Sandro Veronesi’s bestseller, winner of the Strega prize in 2020, as this novel is subtle and abundant. The hummingbird is Marco Carrera, nicknamed by his mother for his small size in childhood. As an adult, it has one thing in common with this bird of “put all his energy into staying put”, according to Luisa, the woman he has always loved. An immobility that is a feat in view of the chaos that surrounds it.

Ophthalmologist, Marco is not distinguished by his ability to see what is going on around him. The book opened with the revelation by his wife’s psychoanalyst, Marina, that their marriage is just a house of cards about to collapse. The film begins during the evening by the sea during which Marco’s sister kills herself, while he himself, then a teenager, flirts with Luisa. A death that will never cease to weigh on his conscience, confining him to a guilty paralysis.

The film blurs temporalities at the risk of losing the viewer

Where Sandro Veronesi walked with clarity between 1960 and 2030, ignoring a linear chronology, the film blurs temporalities at the risk of losing viewers in its narrative labyrinth. Adapting a book means choosing, and therefore giving up. The scenario does not seem to resolve itself there, preserving the majority of the characters of this choral novel. It is indeed difficult to exclude from this formidable gallery of the destinies of parents perpetually at war, Luisa, the great unconsummated love, the intriguing psychoanalyst and friend who brings bad luck to the point of making a career out of it, the child convinced to live with a wire in the back that connects her to the walls behind her, etc.

So many devilishly romantic elements that readers find with pleasure. What is missing, however, is the subtle portrait of a man confronted with tragedies and whose humanity is overwhelming. Pierfrancesco Favino, the actor ofA traitor by Marco Bellocchio, fails to make him as endearing as his paper alter ego. Despite everything, he imposes himself in front of other actors like Bérénice Bejo, Laura Morante and Nanni Moretti, whose secondary roles give them little room to really exist.