Happy as Lazzaro

 Dir. Alice Rohrwacher | Italy 2018 | 127 mins | 12A | Subtitles

"This modern fairy tale is an instant classic" - NYT Critic's Pick, New York Times

"Holy fools and fairytales, Italian style … Rohrwacher is as bold as any filmmaker working today" ★★★★ - Rolling Stone

Alice Rohrwacher follows up her 2014 hit The Wonders with this kaleidoscopic magic-realist fable about modern Italy, greed and corruption.

Lazzaro (talented newcomer Adriano Tardiolo) is a peasant boy whose sweet nature - happily doing the bidding of anyone in his local village - finds people mistaking him as not very bright. The village is ruled over by the Cruella-esque Marchesa (Nicoletta Braschi), and Lazzaro finds an unlikely friend in her petulant son Tancredi, who convinces his hapless ally to help him stage a kidnapping to secure a ransom...

Gorgeously shot on Super 16mm by Rohrwacher’s regular cinematographer Hélène Louvart and incorporating some truly stunning imagery, it mixes folk tales with social critique, biblical allegories and pop culture references to create a totally unique look at the troubled soul of Italy.

Tickets: £7.75 / £6.00 (inc. Poly Fund)