Lord of the Ants

Lord of the Ants - a film by Gianni Amelio
Lord of the Ants - a film by Gianni Amelio
Lord of the Ants - a film by Gianni Amelio
Lord of the Ants - a film by Gianni Amelio
Lord of the Ants - a film by Gianni Amelio
COMING SOON FROM PALACE FILMS
Lord of the Ants - a film by Gianni Amelio
Fascinating and universal. Turns a spotlight on the ground-breaking poet and playwright Aldo Braibanti, a protagonist whose unflappable courage in the face of unjust persecution by the moral majority is both admirable and inspiring, a profile in courage and dignity.
Solemn and stately, the kind of queer statement you might expect from a veteran filmmaker who wasn’t until relatively recently out and proud, and is rather poignant for that. The film concentrates on the quietly righteous academic and political stand that Braibanti took for his sexuality, taking the shape of an old-fashioned courtroom drama around the absurd, unjust trial he faced. Stirring and plangent, the final scene hits grand-scale peaks of feeling and poetry and romanticism.
If Amelio’s drama – which is also in a way a love story – rises above the air of conventionality, it’s not just because of its passionate exposure of a historical injustice. It’s because of the warning it contains for a contemporary Italy in which the forces of reaction are on the move once more.
Striking and involving. Amelio’s classical approach, and the dignified refusal of martyrdom in Luigi Lo Cascio’s lead performance, make this a quietly stirring portrait of institutional intolerance. Amelio draws an unspoken line between the period and prejudices that persist in Italy today - there’s resonance in this account of visibility being suppressed at so many levels.
Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Luigi Lo Cascio, Elio Germano, Sara Serraiocco, Leonardo Maltese
Duration: 133mins
Country of Origin: Italy
M
Mature themes, sexual references and nudity
Fascinating and universal. Turns a spotlight on the ground-breaking poet and playwright Aldo Braibanti, a protagonist whose unflappable courage in the face of unjust persecution by the moral majority is both admirable and inspiring, a profile in courage and dignity.
Solemn and stately, the kind of queer statement you might expect from a veteran filmmaker who wasn’t until relatively recently out and proud, and is rather poignant for that. The film concentrates on the quietly righteous academic and political stand that Braibanti took for his sexuality, taking the shape of an old-fashioned courtroom drama around the absurd, unjust trial he faced. Stirring and plangent, the final scene hits grand-scale peaks of feeling and poetry and romanticism.
If Amelio’s drama – which is also in a way a love story – rises above the air of conventionality, it’s not just because of its passionate exposure of a historical injustice. It’s because of the warning it contains for a contemporary Italy in which the forces of reaction are on the move once more.
Striking and involving. Amelio’s classical approach, and the dignified refusal of martyrdom in Luigi Lo Cascio’s lead performance, make this a quietly stirring portrait of institutional intolerance. Amelio draws an unspoken line between the period and prejudices that persist in Italy today - there’s resonance in this account of visibility being suppressed at so many levels.

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2022 VENICE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (In Competition)

Inspired by real events that took place in Italy in the late 1960s, the powerful new drama from multi award-winning auteur Gianni Amelio (Open Doors, Stolen Children) recounts the controversial trial of Aldo Braibanti, an intellectual whose relationship with a younger student caused a nationwide scandal.

Rome, 1968. Soft-spoken playwright and poet Braibanti (Luigi Lo Cascio, The Ties) is arrested on charges of “plagiarism”; that he has subjugated another person to his will and led them morally astray.

The charges – resting on a rarely cited Fascist-era law - are brought by the family of his romantic partner Ettore (terrific newcomer Leonardo Maltese). Seeking to extract the younger man from Braibanti’s influence, his mother commits Ettore to a psychiatric hospital for electrotherapy, to be “cured”.

Braibanti elects to run his own defence, one where the very essence of his life is scrutinised: art, science, philosophy and sexuality. Meanwhile, the case receives national attention through the efforts of a local journalist, Ennio (Elio Germano), whose diligent and empathetic reporting on the proceedings, spurred on by his cousin Graziella (rising star Sara Serraiocco, Counterpart), stokes community suspicion and the ire of his editor.

Elegantly mounted and superbly performed, Amelio’s impassioned but clear-sighted film depicts an era where modern rights had barely been acknowledged, let alone accepted. The film is a deeply affecting reminder of the conflicts that simmer just below the surface of ‘civilised’ society, as much as in modern-day Italy as they did fifty years ago.

Lord of the Ants - a film by Gianni Amelio
COMING SOON FROM PALACE FILMS
Subscribe to our mailing list for updates