The old adage about babies having babies gets markedly grown-up treatment in “Sole,” a crisp, reserved debut feature from Italian writer-director Carlo Sironi that examines the concept …
that examines the concept of parental instinct from an unusual point of view: that of a directionless young man play-acting the role of fatherhood, and finding himself unexpectedly broody in the process. An Italian-Polish co-production in which both nationalities feel narratively and spiritually integral to proceedings, Sironi’s film effectively blends the warm-blooded emotional stakes of classic Italian melodrama with the cooler, more rigorous language of new Eastern European cinema.
Besides its more substantial virtues, “Sole” is surely notable for being among the bluest films ever committed to the screen — literally, that is, as Sironi bathes the screen in more shades of sky, aquamarine and cornflower than a layman can possibly name. Gergely Poharnok’s lensing and Ilaria Sadun’s production design are so methodically and frostily color-coded as to render the film’s setting, a drab coastal town in Italy, a kind of vast human aquarium.
It’s a somewhat absurd scheme that shows up the heteronormative conservatism of Italian law in this regard, and is also vulnerable to the slightest change of heart from either of the two youths, as they move in together for several months to keep up appearances. While the stoic, briskly detached Lena remains keen to be rid of her daughter as soon as possible, Ermanno begins to have doubts about the setup.
Is he really in love with Lena, or does playing house with her simply make him crave a life different from the aimless, seemingly affection-starved one he’s lived thus far? Sironi’s terse script, co-written with Giulia Moriggi and Antonio Manca, keeps the question open, as does a porous, minimalist performance by Segaluscio, a non-professional with a rheumy, haunted bearing that perfectly undercuts his Dolce-and-Gabbana-model looks.
Sironi, whose shorts have earned him acclaim at the Venice and Locarno fests, opts for a directorial style as strictly controlled and composed as the performances he draws from his stars.
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