Baaria

By Maddalena Dottori
07/11/2009

Giuseppe Tornatore´ s latest film Baaria is set in the director´ s beloved Sicily, precisely in Baaria (hence the title), slang for Bagheria, a small town in Palermo´ s outskirts.
It tells the epic tale of three generations of Sicilian peasants, the Torregrossas, spanning 50 years, from the fascist 30s to the mafia-dominated 80s.
The primary focus of the story is Peppino Torregrossa, who is about 10 when the film begins.
Peppino knows very well what being poor and hungry means, and is also unfortunately very familiar with the arrogance and dishonesty that characterize the local mafia bosses.
He earns a living walking a cow around Bagheria and selling fresh milk to the town housewives.
The precarious situation of the oppressed Sicilian peasants in the 50s - just before Italy´ s economic boom of the following decade - prompts Peppino (a pretty convincing Francesco Scianna), to embrace the communist cause.
In the backdrop of Italy´ s 20^th century eventful history, Peepino falls in love with Mannina (Margareth Made) and dreams of leading a workers´ revolution against the mafia landowners.
It is very likely that Giuseppe Tornatore's Baaria will induce many a viewer familiar with Bertolucci´ s masterpiece 1900 to mercilessly draw comparisons between the two movies.
Baaria is proof that today's Italian directors, with few exceptions, have still a long way to go before they will be able to match the greatness of some of their illustrious predecessors of 30, 40 years ago. (Think Fellini, Leone and Bertolucci himself.)
Nonetheless, the Oscar 2010 Italian candidate is very ambitious, and, despite its flaws, is undoubtedly quite good.
It has accomplished what it seems to be one of its main objectives, namely being taken seriously without scaring away the big masses of romance-loving cinemagoers.
With his latest film Baaria, Giuseppe Tornatore - who was awarded an Academy Award in 1989 with his magic Cinema Paradiso - has demonstrated that he is still a master in recreating the dreamy atmospheres and sensations of the past, of his past, with great attention to details.