LFF - Time Out asks 'Quo Vadis Baby?'

We catch the new Gabriele Salvatores thriller, and hear what the director has to say in the Q&A after.

Oct 24 2005

What better way to spend a Friday afternoon than at the LFF screening of an Italian thriller in the company of its director?

'Quo Vadis Baby?' is Gabriele Salvatores' most experimental film to date; a Hitchcockian crime thriller that also plays as a love letter to classic film noir.

Featuring a wonderfully earthy and honest central performance from first-time actress Elio Germano, the film follows her character's efforts to investigate the suicide of her sister 16 years before.

Through videotape diaries and revelatory conversations with friends and family, she gradually comes to terms with the fact that her sister was a deeply troubled individual.

Although the plot is somewhat predictable, 'Quo Vadis Baby?' is nevertheless high on mood and atmosphere, and as a film about film and the power of the image, it is a minor triumph.

After the screening, Salvatores took to the stage to take part a brief but illuminating Q&A session.

He explained that it was a film of pleasurable firsts for him, having neither shot on hi-definition nor worked with a central female protagonist before.

Salvatores also discussed the many movie references throughout his thriller, paying particular attention to 'Last Tango in Paris' and Fritz Lang's 'M', large chunks of which play in the background during the film.

The former was apparently chosen because of its narrative similarities to 'Quo Vadis Baby?' (indeed, a snatch of Brando dialogue even supplies the title) and it's importance to the feelings and actions of the main characters.

The use of 'M', however, was far less romantic, as Salvatores admits he was simply looking for a film that was out of copyright, thereby making it cheaper to use.

However, he added that the story of 'M' had direct parallels with his own film, and so almost by chance it ended up being the perfect choice.

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