Il castello

In der ihnen eigenen stillen Präsenz interessieren sich die Filmemacher vor allem für das Dasein zwischen dem Kommen und Gehen am Flughafen Mailand-Malpensa: die Röntgen-Durchleuchtung eines jungen Südamerikaners, die händische Kontrolle von lebend eingeflogenen Hummern, aber auch die Zubereitung eines Hähnchenragouts auf einem zwischen Damen- und Herrentoilette angesteckten Campingkocher. Filmhistorisch dem Direct Cinema entsprungen, zoomen D’Anolfi und Parenti in individuelle Schicksale, die von den seit 9/11 orchestrierten Bemühungen gegen Gefahren aller Art betroffen sind. Oder nicht. (Anna Katharina Laggner)

In Anwesenheit von Massimo D’Anolfi & Martina Parenti.

To Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti, an airport is a vast mechanism of control—a powerful system of security and order. Building on this idea, they craft a visually striking and hugely political cinematic kaleidoscope, gazing onto a series of self-contained spaces within the larger one, with each exposed to myriad potential threats. An anti-terror drill highlights prospective danger; gunfire deters birds from the runways; the risk of collisions keeps the control tower alert. Immigration and anti-drug units conduct strict checks: a young Uruguayan is caught with cocaine bags in his stomach; an man from Africa without papers is put on a return flight. Malpensa feels ghostly, suspended in time—a spellbound castle like in the song hummed by Milietta, an elderly woman apparently living at the airport, nestled into this immense transit complex. The soundscape skillfully captures and magnifies each sound, while the camera keenly records weary faces, the light of the ever-shifting sky and the surfaces of glass and metal that glint at night and reflect by day. At the end, as a plane vanishes into the clouds, we know it is also carrying away one passenger’s last hope for a better life. (Maria Giovanna Vagenas)

Massimo D’Anolfi, Martina Parenti (Auswahl): I PROMESSI SPOSI (2007), GRANDI SPERANZE (2009), IL CASTELLO (2011), MATERIA OSCURA (2013), L’INFINITA FABBRICA DEL DUOMO (2015), SPIRA MIRABILIS (2016), BLU (2018, K), GUERRA E PACE (2020), UNA GIORNATA NELL’ARCHIVIO DI PIERO BOTTONI (2022, K), BESTIARI, ERBARI, LAPIDARI (2024)