Youtopia

Youtopia is a catchy title, as is Matilde de Angelis. The result of the feature film, however, is ambivalent. On the one hand there is a strong Italian characterisation, the slowness, the interpretation of the characters; on the other hand there is the message: Youtopia is about those things that are not said but are there.

The film, recognised as being of cultural interest with a contribution from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, plunges us at first into a dark seabed, only to re-emerge in the silence of two fishermen, father and son.

Then a series of scenes follow: a woman exercises at home in front of a motivational video.

Remember Cinderella? We took her to Eurodisney!, the fisherman father - Alessandro Haber - upon finding the toy begins to brood thoughts that we do not understand, that his son does not understand either.

The woman, Laura - Donatella Finocchiaro -, talks to her coach, but to no avail. A provocative girl dances as she undresses a little, winking at no one knows to whom.

The setting is all Roman. Perverse games take place accompanied by classical music, in the shadow of a seemingly perfect, if not wealthy, family. In parallel, we are shown another family unit consisting of a grandmother, mother and daughter. They sell their car and look for work, in financial straits they have to pay the mortgage on their house that has been foreclosed.

Suddenly there is another backdrop, which sounds like the real one, but virtual. Animated by strange creatures to be killed with the complicity of another player, unknown in reality, but very close in acquaintance. During the game session, one communicates in another language, English, which emphasises the detachment of the virtual world from the Roman provinciality.

The motivational DVD is thrown in the bin, like so many things in metaphor. The generational difference is blatant and real.

In front of the product by Bernardo Carboni and Valerio Palusci, one can overlook the not always perfect interpretation, in front of a very well-done photography and simple, but profound and never banal dialogues.

The poetic juxtapositions of images and words give the feature film a non-negligible depth, especially for the topics it deals with, which should not leave us indifferent.

Looking for and being able to recognise who and what, in the midst of hell, is not hell, and making it last, and giving it space. The quotation to Calvino is textual and strong in the middle of the short film.

It is not very evident, but there is in the feature film a change in the format of the video between reality and virtual reality, which also becomes the format of the last scenes, with a precise meaning linked to the ending.

Culture is the red thread of the film: La traviata, Italo Calvino, Monet. Everywhere art is disseminated, salvific art, mirror art of the world of all time.

What is Cinderella, if not the symbol of our innermost dream of what we would like to be or have?