User reviews

Not since My Dinner with Andre can I recall a film set in a single location - now we have this 2017 Italian film The Place, a cafe by that name in which a distinguished-looking fiftyish man holds court at a back table. Supplicants come to him with the problems that most deeply disturb them, and he flips through his thick handwritten notebook to one of the red ribbons - the kind you'd see in a Bible to mark a verse - and tells them what act will bring about what they want.

These acts have nothing to do with their problems - a woman who wants to be prettier is told to steal a very specific amount; a blind man is told that raping a woman will give him sight. But once he pronounces an oracular "deal" he has no alternate solution. They are free not to accept it, or to follow through, but each of them wants their outcome strongly enough to make their pact - at least to begin with.

They stop by to report on their progress, which he records in his notebook. The tasks he assigns often overlap, either by his design or by some hand of providence, and some people get what they ask for, some change their minds and drop the whole thing, and some try to convince him they did as he said - but he tells them they didn't. "How do you know?" A man of few words, he doesn't answer, but we know that they didn't. If they had, something about them would be different.

He is an enigma - we learn the names of some characters, but even in the credits he is Uomo (the Man). He's at The Place when they're setting up in the morning, he's there when the waitress is mopping up at night. As she probes, he admits he doesn't sleep much. We don't see him arrive, we don't see him leave. Sometimes The Place is crowded, other times he's the only customer, and the chairs are upside down on every table except his. Why doesn't he get kicked out? What's his source of funds? He eats and drinks all day, but we never see him pay.

For a man intent on details, he offers few of his own. His supplicants ask him questions, including "Who are you?" which he deflects, returning to why they have come. One character accuses him of being Satan, which he neither confirms nor denies. He displays a lordly indifference to what they think of him - his only concern, once he's assigned their task, is what steps they're taking to complete it.

Is his purpose to awaken conscience, or to demonstrate to people that their desires blot out their morality? Or is he an evil being with the power to grant people's wishes - as long as he gets in trade their compromised integrity? Or is he simply a mirror of a self-absorbed culture in which our happiness is so important we're willing to destroy someone else's to get it?

I kind of enjoyed The Place even though it has lots of flaws. The acting and dialogue was spot on and the story had enough twists to keep me interested until the end. The film did however have lots of problems for me. First of all the editing and cinematophy were really dull and I had a very hard time finding a motivation behind certain choices that were made. The soundtrack also didnt work for me at all. The music was very uninteresting and generic, it would probably have worked better with no music at all, or at least with some restraint. The horrible music at the end left me running away from the theatre.

In conclusion: director Paulo Genovese is good at directing his actors and keeping a story interesting like in his previous film Perfect Strangers, but the style of the film was very poor and undermined the potential of the story greatly.

General impression: The movie starts in one place and ends with the very same place. The movie doesn't take us anywhere. Everything happens here and now. But despite the fact that there are no changing locations or special effects, I didn't take my eyes off the screen for a single minute, I was so immersed in the fascinating and interactive process. We are introduced to a man who sits in a cafe all the time, doesn't go anywhere, but people come to him and ask him to fulfill their desires, it could be anything: pregnancy, love, money, women, etc. But the stranger is not ready to just fulfill any coming request. To make their wish come true, each of the guests is asked to perform unusual tasks. The more difficult it is to fulfill this dream, the higher the price. Each of the heroes must make their own choice - how far are they willing to go in order to get what they want.

The Place is a vivid example of why European cinema will always be relevant. A simple tie is maximum, all the actions of the film take place in one place. Ordinary actors (perhaps in Italy they are known, but I only know Marco Giallini). And dialogues. The whole film rests on them. They are as simple as possible - everything is shot in a regular eight. Nice simple chamber story.

The film keeps you engaged from the start, and leaves plenty to think about when it's over. And yet it is neither preachy nor pretentious. It starts off as a film about the things people would be prepared to do in order to achieve their dreams, but it moves on to other themes, such as what you think you need vs. what you really need, being able to live with oneself having achieved something through trickery and evil deeds, or good outcomes eventually arising from people's intentions to actually do bad things. The film does not involve action, it is based around dialogue. But rest assured, it will never bore you, and it will keep introducing twists that will keep you engaged and constantly guessing what will happen next.

The story revolves around a mysterious figure that can grant any wish, and numerous people that are orbiting around him, intertwined by their own desires and Holy Grail agendas.

Sadly, you can figure out almost every character in the movie in about 15-20 minutes, making the rest of it's length redundant. If this was a short movie, it could have been interesting, but with this running time, it quickly becomes repetitive, predictable and it loses its pace; which is even more problematic considering that "The Place" is set in (no pun intended) only one place - a coffee shop named "The Place." This "mono-territory" would have been a less of a drag in a short feature; this way, it only slows it down even more.

This movie is simply perfect, thanks to the 2 geniuses who cooperated: the writer, Christopher Kubasik, and the director, Paolo Genovese. The story of Kubasik is absolutely original, and I think Genovese did a fantastic job as a director. The actors are awsome, the pace, the dialogs, the editing, the atmosphere are flawless. This is a must see.

There is no cinematography, the music is scarce as decoration, and the plot is extremely doubtful. There is no action, and although the direction and actors are good, you start watching the film and enduring it for the sole reason that you hope anything will happen sometime, which it never does; the only result of having suffered it to the end being that you find out you have wasted a lot of time on nonsense. Genovese appears to have made other meaningless films like this, and the only thing you learn from him is not to watch another film by Genovese. Italian films are usually quite good in every aspect, but unfortunately there are also Italian films that are no good in any aspect.

A great story, an amazing leading actor.

Do not expect any violence, or action, it is all in the dialogues, plot and acting.

A genre film that can be seen by everybody.

Some actors do improve the experience, but overall it's a presumptuous fiasco.

From a first minute this movie holds all your attention. So unusual plot makes watch until the end no special effects or changing scenery. All actions takes place in cafe, but thanks to characters with their stories you moving to different places as an observer. Many different people come in this cafe for get what you want but in exchange they have to do strange task. Will they be able to make a deal with their principles? We have the opportunity to observe the internal struggle and the consequences of their choice. And the way of their life cross making the plot even more confusing.

How far will you go to get the things you desire? Is there any limit at all?

Another creative writing from Paolo Genovese, the director of Perfect Strangers (Post #38 on Zoetrope360, Instagram). This movie is thought provoking as it explores the dark side of us, what are we willing to do to get the things we want.

The entire movie happens within a cafe, The Place. It's like reading a book, you visualize the things happening outside based on what people interact in the cafe.

Granted: the sheer command of every single element that makes up a movie, from acting to locations, dialogue, soundtrack... everything is good. But it comes short. Very short. It doesn't make up for the fact that the plot is complete utter nonsense. Besides the idiotic premise, the plot is full of holes (for instance, how come the guy is always there, even before the diner opens or after the diner closes? or how come there's not a lot of people in line to make a request?) If you have to judge a movie on all its merits, you must come to terms with the fact that this movie is a simplistic and shallow essay on morality and free-will. The script doesn't bother to create a meaningful context in which a moral dilemma takes place: it simply presents a completely artificial context in which a resident Deu Ex-Machina dictates everything. Bottom line: when the movie ends, you are just left with less 100 minutes of your time.

The sheer fact that the whole movie is shot in a couple square meters in an anonymous diner while still keeping you engaged is alone worth a thousand stars. Top it with a subtle, emotional soundtrack and great acting and you have this wonderful piece. The plot is simple yet intriguing and smart, and the fact that a lot of details are easily predictable don't take anything away from it. The protagonist, our mysterious man, is a difficult character, lacking a name and apparently human emotion. The ending was well made, leaving just enough to the immagination.

I recommend this movie to anyone.

Brilliant film that succeeds thanks only to dialogue to get you into the plot like few other films do. Extremely entertaining and original, it demonstrates how even without showing anything a film can entertain and intrigue beyond belief.

I really believe is the worst movie I have senn in my life, totally meaningless, boring, you keep waiting to have a reason that you never find...the end of possible is even less meaningful that the rest of the movie. Actors are weak and dialogue almost embarrassing...I can't understand why you should waste your time watching it

The movie is boring. the story is incredible. The main actor is expressionless. The dialogues are obvious. Dont try it.

Sigh. It's too bad that film studios don't really tell you what a film is going to be like instead of using fake superlatives like "Exciting!", "A Must See!", "Best Picture Of The Year!" etc., etc. "The Place," by all means, is a stinker. The acting, at least, was believable, but the story line was WAAAAY to ridiculous and fantastical to be taken seriously. I guess I should've known I was in for a scripted bore just by the plane, uninteresting, boring title alone. Stay. Far. Away.

I don't want to be harsh since I like some of the actors, but this has to be one of the most pretentious movies of all time. If you want to make a movie that is completely set in a bar with two people talking all the time you either have the best dialogues ever or you think you do. The movie is absurd in a boring way, it's not funny and it's not sad, it's just empty while thinking it has something deep to say.