You are never to old to follow your dreams, even if those dreams involve eating human flesh. That seems to be the inspirational take-home message of Other Cannibals, a delightfully deadpan buddy comedy flavoured with bitter irony and bone-dry gallows humour. Italian writer-director Francesco Sossai shows impressive tonal control and a flair for unexpected plot swerves in his quirky feature debut, which begins as a kind of low-key backwoods horror story but gradually evolves into something more thoughtful, original and strangely moving. Shot in starkly beautiful monochrome, this agreeably bizarre German-backed Italian-language production world premieres at Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn this week.
Other Cannibals takes place in the Dolomites mountain range in northeastern Italy in chilly, damp midwinter. A lugubrious factory worker with the raddled air of a retired rock star in midlife decline, Fausto (Walter Giroldini) is keeping a shocking secret from his family. Shunning a dinner invitation from his long-suffering mother and sister, he bleaches his straggly hair blond and collects a stranger from the train station, nervy philosophy student Ivan (Diego Pagotto). It soon becomes clear the pair have agreed an illicit pact ending in murder and cannibalism. As a suitably remote crime scene, Fausto has secured his family’s holiday home, a lonely mountain villa full of dead flies and melancholy memories.
As the duo begin preparation for their blood feast, they are hobbled by a series of bleakly comic obstacles, including a lack of sharp knives and shared inexperience in slicing up human bodies. Increasingly like an old married couple bickering through a joyless holiday together, Fausto and Ivan are forced to improvise, buying equipment from a hardware store and picking up handy tips when a farmer neighbour slaughters a pig. In the midst of their plans they find themselves drawn into an obligatory meal with Fausto’s mother, where he passes Ivan off as an old friend from his military service days. Anxious and amateurish, this may well be cinema’s most inept criminal double act since the bungling kidnappers in Fargo.
With their cannibalism plot starting to unravel, this odd couple form an uneasy friendship, bonding over shared disappointments and grim family histories. While fastidious Ivan taunts laidback Fausto over his lack of ambition, Fausto savours glowing teenage memories of the Italian football team winning the 1982 World Cup: “I don’t remember being that happy again,” he sighs. In a bravura comic episode, the pair drop LSD and run amok wearing just their underwear, in full view of their neighbours, mostly elderly farmers and grizzled retirees. But instead of disapproval, these taciturn mountain men treat the younger pranksters with bemused indulgence and world-weary wisdom.
Slow to warm up, Sossai’s taboo-trashing tragicomedy eventually rewards patient viewers with its offbeat charm, understated wit and authentically gritty lead performances. Both Giroldini and Pagotto do fine work here, adding nuance and depth to their flawed, mundane but not wholly unsympathetic characters. Without getting into serious spoilers, Fausto does finally satisfy his creepy carnal appetites by unexpected means. More importantly, he also seems to make peace with deeper unresolved issues in his life. Full of mischief and misdirection, Other Cannibals dances a circuitous route through macabre comedy and nihilistic despair to arrive at this audaciously humane conclusion. Sossai may hide his intentions behind layers of irony, but there is a generosity of spirit at play in his deliciously dark debut, hitting a sublime peak with a late musical interlude that lifts the story to a higher emotional plane.
Director: Francesco Sossai
Screenwriters: Francesco Sossai, Adriano Candiago
Cast: Walter Giroldini, Diego Pagotto
Producer: Cecilia Trautvetter
Cinematography: Giulia Schelhas
Editing: Ginevra Giacon
Music: Davide Rizzardi, Sebastian Pablo Poloni
Production company, world sales: Deutsche Film & Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB)
Venue: Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn (first feature competition)
In Italian
96 minutes
