Il Caimano

This very complex movie by Nanni Moretti may seem that is about another (see Iklimer) marriage breakdown - there is one in the story-, about the complexity of moviemaking, about what having or not having “real” money does, lesbian parenting, and yes, a little about Silvio Berlusconi, or maybe a lot? But one thing is not: a movie against (or in favor) or a biopic of Silvio Berlusconi!!

Actually, the movie is a complex political satire that if you are not familiar with recent Italian politics you will probably miss most of the satire. Disguised as a comedy, a melodrama and a tragedy pokes at the very essence of what has been happening to Italy for the last decade... and the consequences Italians are living today.

The linear plot evolves around a producer that gets a screenplay by a young and newcomer director -she had only made shorts before- and the name of the screenplay is: Il Caimano. So you end up watching how a movie is made… along many other things.

If I try to explain more things about the movie I will get into trouble. Not because I will tell spoilers, but because this review (like many I read) will become a political statement… and that is a NO! NO! in this blog. Well, I am not that familiar with Italian politics, just know the basics; but after watching this movie and reading a LOT about it, I can say that perhaps I learned quite a bit more… this, I suppose, is the grandness of cinema, eventually comes a movie that can motivate you to learn more about something.

Not your regular entertainment movie, this is more a brainy type of movie … so if you want to immerse yourself into a very complex movie, this is your chance!

One last thing, the last scenes of the movie, when is Nanni Moretti' s turn to play the il caimano character, are truly magnificent and the music score in that moment is outstanding! Typical great Italian movie score that has some notes from (or at least is very similar to) that famous Gian Maria Volonte movie “Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto” or Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, which became one of many Ennio Moriconne’s famous scores.

I decided to include a link to one of the best articles I read about this movie, just in case I aroused your curiosity and you want to read more. Is here.