Reading a short blurb and watching a 2 minutes preview, I expected something of an Italian version of a Ken Loach film, a realistic, gloomy, social commentary on working conditions and the ignorance of workers' rights by an evil company. I wasn't so wrong, but I got more than this. Director Riondino (who also plays the the main character in a very convincing way) for sure has watched his Fellini, and the film comes up with some poetic dream-like moments on top of the realism, some visually appealing, some absurd and intentionally ridiculous. These are integrated very well in the otherwise indeed gloomy and realist portrayal of the reaction of an Italian company in the 1990s to the opposition it faced among (unionist) workers to restructuration under new ownership and changing their contracts. I also had fun comparing the Italian interpretation of realist proletarian acting to the British one in Ken Loach's films. If you like this kind of acting, this is a film for you. Some characters to me seem to be very nicely on the borderline between still just realistic and somewhat satirically exaggerated, but at the end of the day I suspect that they may be firmer on the realistic side than I can imagine (never having had direct contact with the portrayed working culture in Italy).
What does "Palazzina LAF" mean, you may ask. You've got to see the film to find out. "LAF" means "Laminatoio a Freddo", in English apparently "cold rolling", some kind of production process, but this doesn't tell you anything about what to expect in the Palazzina LAF. Caterino, the main character, having been convinced by the company to spy on his co-workers in exchange for a promotion and a.company car, catches a glimpse on what goes on there and wants to go there, not really understanding what it means what he sees. The request is granted, so he finds out and so will you.
Gloomy social realism meets some felliniesque moments, and they go very well together, helped by an interesting hardly predictable if somewhat simple storyline. Excellent film.
