KAOS (1982)

The title refers to a place, not a condition; in Sicily, where Italian writer Luigi Pirandello was born. (And returned to in later years.) For writer/directors Luigi & Vittorio Taviani, it caps their best decade (ALLONSANFAN/’74; PADRE PADRONE/’77; NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS/’82*) in an area of Italy new to them. The stories all turn-of-the-last-century, but set in conditions primitive enough to seem timeless, aided by the Taviani non-interventionist style and from their collaboration with poet/screenwriter Tonino Guerra. A long haul at three hours, but never a drag. After a brief prologue to ‘bell the crow’ who flies over spectacular scenery to find the stories, we start with THE OTHER SON where a mother longs for her two boys, gone to America with no word back while a third son, living nearby, is ignored by the mother who believes him cursed. MOONSICKNESS is, of all things, a sort of naturalistic Italian werewolf tale. Sexy, scary, compassionate, it’s a classic Taviani peasant fable. Then, comic relief in THE JAR, about a rich land owner (Ciccio Ingrassia, a ringer for Vincent Price), a huge olive container, and a repair job gone wrong. Funnier than these earthy fables usually are, even if it outstays its welcome. No surprise that the final tale, REQUIEM, is the most serious. A revolutionary themed story of farmers working without land rights, but insisting, against the wishes of the estate owner that they be given some land where they worked & where they will die to be buried in. Then a brief, utterly lovely memory piece for an aging Pirandello come home, to recall his mother’s dangerous boat voyage to join his father in exile. Each beautifully (and distinctively) handled, the experience somewhat similar to a Late 1800s/Early 1900s Romantic Symphony. Something by Mahler or Bruckner in Four Movements: ANDANTE; ALLEGRO; SCHERZO; ADAGIO. (The epilogue quotes Barbarina’s arietta from Mozart’s MARRIAGE OF FIGARO.) The film works perfectly well one story at a time, but you’ll likely watch straight thru. A remarkable work.

DOUBLE-BILL: *As mentioned above, all three essential, though the first is hard to find.