By Michael Atkinson
Turning 70 this year, Marco Bellocchio has finally attained old-guard respectability, in light of the ironic, seasoned, historically quizzical mastery of "My Mother's Smile" (2002), "Good Morning, Night" (2003) and now "The Wedding Director" (2006). Notorious here as a mere provocateur (largely thanks to Maruschka Detmers' half-hearted blowjob in "Devil in the Flesh"), Bellocchio has always seemed young and ready to rumble ever since his 1965 debut "Fists in the Pocket," fashioned, when he was 26, as a sneak attack on all things Old World Catholic, provincial, late-baroque, aristocratic and traditional. Now, after many darkling family tales and adaptations of Pirandello, Bellocchio has mellowed into a ruminative, absurdist autumnal mood, and "The Wedding Director" is his most sheerly enjoyable film in years. The movie has a pleasantly Rivette-like dimension to it -- however much we see, we're always aware of something unmentioned and mysterious going on at the fringes of the story.
Turning 70 this year, Marco Bellocchio has finally attained old-guard respectability, in light of the ironic, seasoned, historically quizzical mastery of "My Mother's Smile" (2002), "Good Morning, Night" (2003) and now "The Wedding Director" (2006). Notorious here as a mere provocateur (largely thanks to Maruschka Detmers' half-hearted blowjob in "Devil in the Flesh"), Bellocchio has always seemed young and ready to rumble ever since his 1965 debut "Fists in the Pocket," fashioned, when he was 26, as a sneak attack on all things Old World Catholic, provincial, late-baroque, aristocratic and traditional. Now, after many darkling family tales and adaptations of Pirandello, Bellocchio has mellowed into a ruminative, absurdist autumnal mood, and "The Wedding Director" is his most sheerly enjoyable film in years. The movie has a pleasantly Rivette-like dimension to it -- however much we see, we're always aware of something unmentioned and mysterious going on at the fringes of the story.
- 1/6/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.