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As we all know the circus has always inspired a lot of
artists, starting from the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso to the Italian film
director Federico Fellini. However, recently there haven’t been many movies
that concern this specific field, that talk about the life of the circus
troupe or the art in general.
The Jacques Rivette’s new production,
Around a small mountain (36 Vues du
pic Saint Loup) brings back clowns and acrobats to the cinema. The
French director tells a story of a small, family circus whose founder has
just died. Due to this the troupe decides to call for his eldest daughter
who left the family business fifteen years ago. To their surprise she’s
eager to come back and help them.
Kate, played by always astonishing Jane Birkin, has to overcome the shadows
of her past and confront the reality that she left a long time ago. Her
mysteriousness and internal charm start to intrigue Vittorio (Sergio
Castellitto), an Italian who’s enthusiastic about the life of the circus
troupe and eventually even takes part in the circus show.
Thanks to Rivette we have a great chance to see what happens behind the
scenes of the circus, when the show is already over and the applause lows.
The circus itself represents a place where the performers gather and create
the real art, the art that is still alive and manages to affect the
audience.
The mood that the movie creates is a bit intimate and familiar at the same
time. We manage to became a part of the troupe, of the life that they live,
we even have a feeling as if we participated in the spectacle. Somehow the
simplicity of the movie creates its intensity.
Although it’s a pretty short production (lasts 84 minutes only), it manages
to express various emotions, to show a human struggling against the past and
to reflect a real passion for art in a more intense way than more complex
and longer productions do. For all these reasons I think that
Around a small mountain is
definitely worth recommending.
07:09:2009
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