Tales of the Nazis: A review of the fantasy "Freaks Out"
Unbridled and uncontroversial fantasy about circus men who confront the Nazis.
A rare guest at the box office and by the criteria of quiet times - not only is it a European blockbuster, it is also a festival film. The premiere of "Desperate Avengers" (it is difficult to catch the play on the name Freaks Out) took place in the main competition of the Venice Film Festival. Recall that the French drama about illegal abortions in the 60's "The Event" won the review, and the fantasy was rather a bright but optional spot in the socially colored program. "The Avengers didn't win a Golden Lion, of course, but it took home a handful of local awards, including a prize for best Italian film. You can argue with the decision, but it is easier to agree: it is far from perfect, but a bold and inventive movie.
The opening interlude (a scene incredible in its beauty and power) introduces the audience in and out of the frame of the circus-cum-cheerleaders: Fulvio (Claudio Santamaria), the shaggy-haired strongman beast; Mario (Giancarlo Martini), the magnet clown - forks literally stick to his forehead; the insect lord - once Cincho (Pietro Castellitto) waves his hand, the wings rush to the chuck; the lightbulb girl Matilda (Aurora Giovinazzo), whose skin is like a bare nerve - it can electrocute; the old man Israel (Giorgio Tirabassi), an entertainer and musician. The fascist regime is getting more and more strangled by the Italians, and the owner of the marquee decides to take the freaks to America. Of course, the repatriation plan fails, and the magical circus performers have to use their supernatural powers not only for the amusement of the audience, but also for the Resistance.
In Suicide Squad you can recognize the Avengers (the localizers played on the associations), the X-Men and even the Fantastic Four, but most of all the troupe looks like very old acquaintances - Dorothy (or Ellie for those who grew up with Volkov), the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion (with Chewbacca genes) and the Scarecrow. A dusty road without yellow bricks also leads to Goodwin, the circus director Fritz Franz (Franz Rogowski), who dreams of assembling a guard of super-soldiers to defeat Hitler, which gets farther every day. A drug-induced stupefaction summons visions from the future: Franz moves to the present day and not only knows about the fall of the Third Reich, but can even play Radiohead's Creep from memory.
"Desperate Avengers" is packed full of pop culture: at times the recognition looks sympathetic, and at times it looks excessive. The authors generally have a rather distanced relationship with a sense of proportion. Gabriel Mainetti's film may seem overpowering, eerily naive and sentimental, vulgar and pathologically simplifying the events of the middle of the century - one might be offended by this interpretation of World War II. But at the same time, "Freaks" is a disarmingly sincere and humanistic film, in addition to being ingeniously shot and staged. The script offers endless movement that replaces motivation, and kindness hides between the lines instead of common sense. Circus men meet and break up, fly, fall, storm a train, shoot guns, get lost in the woods and run, run, run. At times it even seems that the endless circulation is not the merit of the characters, but of the space itself: it changes, rearranges, freezes and falls, the landscape around is as plastic as an acrobat under a marionette dome. And in this movement there is a vitality that cannot be faked - in every light, every aluminum bowl of potatoes or bottle of wine in the hands of a partisan singing "Bella, ciao!" There are many notes in the words, colors and worn fabrics that resonate with the orphan worlds of Guillermo del Torro, who in "Nightmare Alley" also turned to a wandering circus in the arms of war. But the situation with the Italian moral code is quite different.
There is no tendency to idealize the gang: frankly, none of the circus performers are recruited as heroes - the freaks have to join the Resistance when they cannot become opportunists. For the longest time the violent methods are not accepted by Matilda - the young lady, drugged with electricity, has problems with communication and tactility: don't come near - she'll kill you! As much internal contradictions and childhood trauma is sparingly depicted, so visually intense looks the pulsating chest of the light bulb artist. Some episodes of the picture are rife with the magic that it most often is in books: quiet magic at your fingertips, little miracles in a jar of fireflies. But don't rush to take the kids to the show: Mainetti doesn't poeticize not only the ideology of the circus performers, but also the everyday life-the film is full of nudity, corporeality, public pleasures and blood. Heads fly in the best traditions of Quentin Tarantino - it seems that only Inglourious Basterds we haven't had time to remember yet.
"Desperate Avengers" is indeed a fairy tale: colorful, ingenuous, cruel, but insanely touching. The action on the screen breathes with the selfless belief that luck is always on the side of the oppressed - the slanted, the crooked, the hunchbacked, the one-eyed fools (it's no accident that circus freaks are called freaks), deprived of shelter and family, and does not favor the ironed uniforms. The bitter aftertaste is that "there are no winners in war, only losers," as Franz's lover Irina (Anna Tenta) says. The insidiousness of the armed actions periodically tears the canvas of the parade magic: Matilda tries to be raped by soldiers, and on the platform are the suitcases of those who will never get their luggage. Let Desperate Avengers shoot in all directions at once, aiming nowhere, but all can be forgiven for a film where a child's tear can turn into a cookie.
This article was sponsored by Claudiu cimpeanu
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