Film ReviewsHuman Capital: a class study
Feb 27, 2015 Anchorage Press
|
|
In Paolo Virzì's Human Capital ("Il Capitale Umano," original Italian title), the story interweaves three accounts of the same night to reveal the culprit in a hit and run that claims the life of a cyclist. The plot seems simple and straightforward enough, and initially predictable, but viewers soon discover that it's anything but simple or predictable.
Human Capital tells the events of the deadly night in three chapters. Each chapter focuses on a particular character. Approaching the story in this manner allows viewers to come to know the real story a little bit at a time. This story-telling device also makes a simple plot interesting and gives Virzì plenty of room and time to develop characters to a gratifying end. Virzì's cast is exceptional and each character solicits a wide range of emotions and judgment from viewers. The character development in Human Capital does not follow the traditional transformation arc-the time frame of the story is simply too short for viewers to see the arc come to completion. More than showing characters deeply change, the film focuses on revealing their true nature of the as precipitated by economic and social conditions, exposing their respective virtues and flaws.
The dynamics of Human Capital take place in the area in and around Milan, Italy, not only a major fashion center, but it's also Italy's financial and industrial heart. Human Capital explores class relations via the interconnection between the affluent Barnaschi family and the middle class Ossola family. As the story unfolds, other marginalized characters emerge to form critical parts of the lives of the Barnaschi and Ossola family dynamics.
The first chapter sets up the relationship between the two families as Dino Ossola (played by Fabrizio Bentivoglio, a doppelganger for Seymour Cassel) tries to gain favor with Giovanni Bernaschi (Fabrizio Gifuni) who is a financial powerhouse. Dino aspires to befriend Giovanni and joins the Bernaschi inner circle, thus gaining financial advantage and a higher social status. The relationship between the families hinges on the courtship of the two young adult children, Serena Ossola (Matilde Gioli) and Massimiliano Bernaschi (Guglielmo Pinelli). The familial ties come apart as the incidents of the night reveal that Massimiliano and Serena are not Romeo and Juliet; the question of who was driving that night looms over their heads and can potentially destroy their future.
One of the most compelling characters is that of the Carla Bernaschi, the maternal head of household, who is played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (the older sister of Carla Bruni, former First Lady of France, fashion model and pop star). Carla Bernaschi's character is especially compelling in a similar way as Patricia Arquette's mother role was in Boyhood-both mothers are loving, compassionate and slightly disappointed.
The second chapter not only reveals the story of Carla and the compromises she made to be the perfect Bernaschi wife, mother and socialite, but Virzì uses this chapter to show the similarities in different worlds that exist parallel to one another in an Italy that is fragmented along the same social, political and economic lines. Carla's attempt to interact with a group of artistic counterparts from a different time in her life reveals that this group is just as dysfunctional and flawed as Giovanni's roundtable of investors.
Virzì's execution of Human Capital is like a fine tightrope balancing act in which slight changes in balance or center of gravity reveal different aspects of human nature. Virzì goes as far as creating leitmotifs that run through the story like wide panning shots of the Italian countryside with Vivaldi's Four Seasons playing to indicate the way to the Bernaschi estate, or the sound of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" blasting from Dino's older model car to symbolize Dino's social grasping.
The third and final chapter provides the missing details of the night. With the focus on Serena, the final act feels rawer and ties the plot back to the cyclist as pretenses fall apart and all that is left are the realities created by class systems. Human Capital shows that for the middle class there is a fine line between achieving higher social ground and slipping in precarious economic conditions to being the underbelly of the rich.
"Human capital" refers to calculations used by insurance companies, legal eagles, and corporations to determine a monetary figure equal to the worth of a person in order to resolve settlements in cases of death, accidents or other losses. The calculation takes into account a complex matrix of shifting parameters like age, gender, life expectancy, educational attainment, skills, work experience, etc. Distilling the worth of a person to formulas separates out the human factor and helps create and propagate standards of inequity worldwide. As George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
Human Capital shows at 2 p.m. on Monday. March 2 at Bear Tooth.
Human Capital tells the events of the deadly night in three chapters. Each chapter focuses on a particular character. Approaching the story in this manner allows viewers to come to know the real story a little bit at a time. This story-telling device also makes a simple plot interesting and gives Virzì plenty of room and time to develop characters to a gratifying end. Virzì's cast is exceptional and each character solicits a wide range of emotions and judgment from viewers. The character development in Human Capital does not follow the traditional transformation arc-the time frame of the story is simply too short for viewers to see the arc come to completion. More than showing characters deeply change, the film focuses on revealing their true nature of the as precipitated by economic and social conditions, exposing their respective virtues and flaws.
The dynamics of Human Capital take place in the area in and around Milan, Italy, not only a major fashion center, but it's also Italy's financial and industrial heart. Human Capital explores class relations via the interconnection between the affluent Barnaschi family and the middle class Ossola family. As the story unfolds, other marginalized characters emerge to form critical parts of the lives of the Barnaschi and Ossola family dynamics.
The first chapter sets up the relationship between the two families as Dino Ossola (played by Fabrizio Bentivoglio, a doppelganger for Seymour Cassel) tries to gain favor with Giovanni Bernaschi (Fabrizio Gifuni) who is a financial powerhouse. Dino aspires to befriend Giovanni and joins the Bernaschi inner circle, thus gaining financial advantage and a higher social status. The relationship between the families hinges on the courtship of the two young adult children, Serena Ossola (Matilde Gioli) and Massimiliano Bernaschi (Guglielmo Pinelli). The familial ties come apart as the incidents of the night reveal that Massimiliano and Serena are not Romeo and Juliet; the question of who was driving that night looms over their heads and can potentially destroy their future.
One of the most compelling characters is that of the Carla Bernaschi, the maternal head of household, who is played by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (the older sister of Carla Bruni, former First Lady of France, fashion model and pop star). Carla Bernaschi's character is especially compelling in a similar way as Patricia Arquette's mother role was in Boyhood-both mothers are loving, compassionate and slightly disappointed.
The second chapter not only reveals the story of Carla and the compromises she made to be the perfect Bernaschi wife, mother and socialite, but Virzì uses this chapter to show the similarities in different worlds that exist parallel to one another in an Italy that is fragmented along the same social, political and economic lines. Carla's attempt to interact with a group of artistic counterparts from a different time in her life reveals that this group is just as dysfunctional and flawed as Giovanni's roundtable of investors.
Virzì's execution of Human Capital is like a fine tightrope balancing act in which slight changes in balance or center of gravity reveal different aspects of human nature. Virzì goes as far as creating leitmotifs that run through the story like wide panning shots of the Italian countryside with Vivaldi's Four Seasons playing to indicate the way to the Bernaschi estate, or the sound of Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" blasting from Dino's older model car to symbolize Dino's social grasping.
The third and final chapter provides the missing details of the night. With the focus on Serena, the final act feels rawer and ties the plot back to the cyclist as pretenses fall apart and all that is left are the realities created by class systems. Human Capital shows that for the middle class there is a fine line between achieving higher social ground and slipping in precarious economic conditions to being the underbelly of the rich.
"Human capital" refers to calculations used by insurance companies, legal eagles, and corporations to determine a monetary figure equal to the worth of a person in order to resolve settlements in cases of death, accidents or other losses. The calculation takes into account a complex matrix of shifting parameters like age, gender, life expectancy, educational attainment, skills, work experience, etc. Distilling the worth of a person to formulas separates out the human factor and helps create and propagate standards of inequity worldwide. As George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
Human Capital shows at 2 p.m. on Monday. March 2 at Bear Tooth.