Direction: Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo
Country: Italy
D’Innocenzo Brothers’ slow-burning sophomore feature, Bad Tales, managed to get much more attention than their 2018 debut, Boys Cry, confirming the strong screenwriting and directional abilities of the twosome.
This oppressive, sharp-eyed drama film takes place over the summer holidays in the Roman urban area of Spinaceto, where a girl’s diary written in green ink takes us to a sordid tale that, according to the narrator, is half-true.
The main protagonists are some cold, apathetic kids - Dennis (Tommaso Di Cola), Geremia (Justin Korovkin), Viola (Giulia Melillo) and Alessia (Giulietta Rebeggiani) - who are also the main victims of a suburban dysfunction that affects a messed up neighborhood. Depraved of real affection, parental education and adequate school orientation, the youngsters are on their own, capable of committing evil actions without a flicker of emotion. In turn, the fathers (especially them) - Bruno (Elio Germano), Pietro (Max Malatesta) and Amelio (Gabriel Montesi) - often show improper behavior in front of their children, reacting to some situations as if they have bipolar disorder or if their kids were their age. In parallel to all this, we also follow the sad path of Vilma (Ileana D’Ambra), an immature older neighbor who is clearly not ready for the child she carries in her womb.
Mounted with well-developed characters and preserving tension at all times, Bad Tales is a terribly cruel, darkly compelling, sometimes-obscene film that perfectly articulates the toxicity and psychological consequences that result from the severe alienation between parents and children. Technically, the film achieves satisfactory results in the cinematography, editing and art direction departments.
