I watched a remarkable film last night: Le Quattro Volte by Michelangelo Frammartino. There was something extraordinary about the film, which I felt when watching, but was fleshed out further in an interview with the director on the DVD. He explained how cinema can collapse the world, removing separation between Man and the landscape. In this film, the role of protagonist shifted regularly: from man, to goat, to dog, to tree, to landscape. Man’s assumed importance was put firmly into perspective. Pivotal dramatic or humorous moments in the film come courtesy of animal ‘actors’: the shepherd’s dog Vuk fully deserved his Palme D’or award. ‘Le Quattro Volte’ refers to the assertion attributed to Pythagoras:
‘We each have four successive lives within ourselves; each one contained within the others. We are minerals; we are made of salt, water and organic matter. We are crops; like plants, we breathe, reproduce and nourish ourselves. We are animals; we have imagination, memory and knowledge of the outside world. In the end, we are rational beings; we possess will and reason. We each have four distinct lives within ourselves… and so we must discover ourselves four times.’
See the full trailer here or check out the Guardian review. Best of all, put aside some time to view the film.
