re:mote voices

Title: After Midnight [Dopo mezzanotte]
Cast: Giorgio Pasotti, Francesca Inaudi, Fabio Troiano, Francesca Picozza, Silvio Orlando, Pietro Eandi, Andrea Romero, Giampiero Perone, Maurizio Vaiana
Director: Davide Ferrario

As I write this I trace a pattern. The links and themes between the films I have seen in the last week. Hidden, about a family sent videotapes by a stalker, revealing stories of the past. Frozen, the last trace of a missing person being a CCTV tape, acting as catalyst to contemporary myth. And After Midnight, a film about film and about narrative.

This Italian film is narrated throughout, the voice explaining that in the past films were more about place than characters. With that the place at the heart of After Midnight being The Mole, which is the Turin Museum of Cinema. Martino is the Museum’s night janitor, who whiles away his shifts by watching old films – films about places. From watching so many silent films, spending so much time alone, Martino has become almost silent himself – imitating his hero Buster Keaton in his clumsy manner and dreaming of making his own film.

Every night Martino stops in at a fast food carryout across from the museum. This is where Amanda works – a short haired girl, who looks like she has had her nose broken at least once. Even so she has a definite appeal, and Martino is infatuated with her. She is the real reason he goes there every night, binning the greasy food as soon as he gets back inside the museum, but she is oblivious until she in trouble. The timing of which sees Martino opening the door to the museum, which she instantly darts through seeking refuge there.

But of course this isn’t as simple as boy meets girl. Amanda is the main, though not only, girlfriend of car their The Angel. Thus a love triangle rears its ugly head. In the process After Midnight mixes in a number of film clips and references while the characters run around the museum. Comparisons to Jules ET Jim are abundant, which After Midnight acknowledges when Martino makes a comment about having seen a French film that was similar to their situation.

With that After Midnight is not the most original film. In fact there are close comparisons to Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers, which probably came out about the same time as this Italian film did originally. Though the big difference is that After Midnight is worth watching and The Dreamers isn’t. Regardless of any comparisons, the performances here are engaging, and After Midnight is a pleasing watch – witty, warm and charming.