07/09/2011

Illegal immigration, religion, a duty for Christian solidarity and mercy as defences against state interference: these are the themes that veteran Italian filmmaker Ermanno Olmi has decided to explore in his latest feature The Cardboard Village [+see also:
trailer
film profile], presented out of competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival.

A priest (Michael Lonsdale) watches powerlessly as his parish is dismantled, after being permanently closed to the public. That same evening, a group of illegal immigrants break in and find shelter in the building. The priest decides to offer them a refuge and protect them as best he can. All invested with a new mission of Christian solidarity, this man of faith will devote himself to these destitute people right to the ultimate sacrifice. His life, which until then rested on the word of God, takes on a new meaning with the holy act of charity.

After One Hundred Nails [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (released in 2007), Olmi had announced his intention to abandon fiction to focus solely on documentaries. After a long period of illness which prevents him from undertaking any long-distance trips, the director decided to make The Cardboard Village which brings together some of the themes running through a filmography that began in 1959 with Time Stood Still.

Filmed in a closed and very austere environment, the film opts for quite an unrealistic approach to the outdoor locations (evoked using sounds and the play of artificial light). The Cardboard Village focuses in particular on the theological discourse that actor Michael Lonsdale knows well after practising it recently in Of Gods and Men [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Xavier Beauvois
film profile]. Like Judas alongside Jesus Christ, Rutger Hauer makes a treacherous appearance in this mainly symbolic story which asks questions about the meaning of the House of God today. The subject is realistic, but it serves as the pretext for a series of theoretical reflections about the responsibility of citizens faced with those in need. Stripped of its mystical attributes, the message has present-day relevance and is important, but it is badly served by a dry directorial style and an even tighter budget. We would have preferred a less solemn and more sensitive work to counter the artificiality of the decorum. Perhaps the film will enjoy a career on the school and educational circuits, which it won’t find in major distribution.

(Translated from French)