Isolesque by Giovanni Berardi
One of the rare benefits of the current quarantine that most of the world is living in due to the COVID-19 pandemic is the emergence of a new film category “quarantine shorts” and what better specimen of the category than “Isolesque”. Director “Giovanni Berardi” gave us a breath of fresh air (much needed) with his work; be it the style, the acting and the technical aspect.
Watching the film, one cannot but recall the famous eye-slicing scene from the silent surrealist masterpiece “ un chien andalou” by Spanish director Luis Bunuel and artist Salvador Dali, or remember the absurd work of Samuel Beckett in scenes that include the paper cut cat.
The choice of black and white is not something to be taken lightly when talking about film imagery; the contrast within the absence of color is greatly mastered by Berardi, his fluent ability to give life to his shots without the use of colors is highly evident.
As for the acting, “Edith von Hammer” is to be applauded for her work which is not an easy task especially that the movie has zero dialogue, so all the work is based on her ability to convey the character thru facial expressions and body language, her daily routine during the quarantine and how she interacts with the different elements around her and how her character changes when this routine is broken are all a real joy to watch.
The “mise en scene” is also to be noted, be it the costumes or the art direction are all highly crafted to support the work.
Technically, the stronghold of this film is its editing. The well selected cuts and the pacing of the shots makes the continuity of the film a true accomplishment. Lighting wise, again is not something to be taken lightly when working with black and white; it is a task that needs careful attention to its details in order not to commit the mistake that is widely common which is dullness and lifelessness in the picture, a matter that is non existing in “Isolesque”. As for the music, it is obvious that the choices used are not random and that it has been carefully selected to enhance the overall desired mood.
Finally, the work is a sign of immense skills shown by “Berardi” and his ability to work on such genre is a big triumph, a must see film in order to appreciate the outcome.
N.Khouri Ph.D
Monthly Indie Shorts
Rating
About Giovanni
Hi everyone! My name is Giovanni Berardi and I was born on 20 August 1994 in L’Aquila, near Rome.
Passionate about cinema since he was a child and a great admirer of David Lynch, I approached the experts, first writing articles of film criticism for some online magazines and my blog “The Manager Experience”, and then I definitively tried my hand at directed by my longtime friend Luca Ventura Cinque, with whom he founded the cultural association “filmAQuì”, now a reference point for the audiovisual sector in the Abruzzo capital.
In addition to “Isolesque”, I shot “Bominaco – The Hidden Beauty”, with which I have already won a prize in the “Ignote Bellezze” competition organized nationally by the Rotaract Club and arriving among the finalists of the “Cine Futura Fest 2019”, “Animae Sanctae” another video clip on the occasion of the restoration of the Church of Santa Maria del Suffragio dell’Aquila, an experimental short film on Christmas Eve in L’Aquila (“eve – this is L’Aquila”) and two fiction short films: “About You” and “Abyss’ Scent”, which is currently found in various festivals around the world, through the distribution company “Prem1ere Film”.
