I Fidanzati

Last night at the Seattle Art Museum's Italian film series -- after watching I Fidanzati -- I told my companion, "Well, I don't think I'll be writing in my blog about this one."

The 1963 film by director Ermanno Olni seemed to go on forever.  And it had no plot, which is to say, nothing happened.  Well, that's not true.  Lots of things "happened," but they didn't seem to add up to any recognizable story line.

But now, the day after, I've reconsidered.  Here are just a few words about the film, in case anyone has the opportunity to see it.

The plot, such as it is:  Giovanni and Lilliana, probably in their late 20s, are a long-time engaged couple -- "fidanzati" -- living in Milan. They act bored and irritated with each other.  Giovanni has received a job offer, a chance to advance his career, working on industrial construction in Sicily.  Lilliana doesn't want him to go.  He goes.  He spends weeks wandering around the coastal construction site listlessly, observing with occasional interest the peculiarities of Sicilian life. 

The two exchange letters.  Giovanni confesses how much he loves Lilliana and misses her.  She replies that she had been desperately scared that he was leaving her for good, that the job was just an opportunity to get away from her.  Their letters become increasingly open and self-revealing, in ways that their face to face conversations had never been.  Finally, Giovanni telephones her.  The phone call is brief and awkward, and they exchange simple small talk.  He wanders around the construction site in the midst of a storm.  End.

The story is boring, but the photography is excellent and the scenes of northern Italy and Sicily around 1960 are fascinating just from an historical point of view.  Italy by then was well beyond the poverty of the post-war days, but still remained uniquely Italian -- Italy did not yet derive much of its national personality from the rest of Europe, let alone from America, as it has increasingly since.

Nevertheless, the corporate life of Giovanni's employer -- airline flights, modern hotels, tight schedules, quick decisions, work to be accomplished -- already contrasted to an enormous degree with the slow, rural, traditional life of its local Sicilian workers.  The bemusement of Giovanni, and the northern Italian company bosses, with local customs and festivals is obvious.

The film reveals Giovanni's growing homesickness by his rapid flashbacks to scenes with his girlfriend in Milan, and -- by its focus on the minutiae of his daily life in Sicily -- demonstrates his loneliness and boredom.  It is this very loneliness that enables him to pour his heart out in his letters to Lilliana. 

But do Giovanni and Lilliana really love each other?  Absence has clearly made their hearts grow fonder, but how will they feel once Giovanni returns to Milan and they once more find themselves together daily.  The awkward telephone call may portend doom -- but, on the other hand, phone calls are often awkward, especially when the participants haven't seen each other for a while and -- for that matter -- rarely use telephones.

I suspect that Olmi intends for us each to write our own ending, to draw our own conclusion as to the couple's  future happiness -- a conclusion that hinges on how optimistic or pessimistic we each feel individually regarding the prospects of romantic life.