Review of Toni (1935) by Simon C — 25 Sep 2008

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this film but as it is, it does display a sense of rawness that really makes cinema into a tool for everyone, it puts our ideas and perspectives into disarray in what it displays, a re-enactment, a narrative and a documentary at the same time.

The plot is very all over, with certain subplots that seems to get more attention but the focus is very clear. Overall, I can see Visconti influence when watching Ossessione. Another element is the style, which is nothing, it feels like one nice ditty that takes a non noteworthy standing in the orbit of art when compared to the magnifique of Tchaikovsky or so on.

It is that drab bearing that really allows us to interpret this film in its fundamental component and that is a non-judgmental study of the emotions of these people.