Sicily!

Veteran experimentalists Straub and Huillet offer a compact adaptation of Conversation in Sicily, Elio Vittorini's anti-fascist novel of 1939 which was banned outright by the Italian authorities in 1942. Buscarino plays the author's alter ego, and the narrative charts his return from the north to visit old haunts and family after some 15 years in exile. Shot in high contrast b/w, which somehow only emphasises the luminescence of the Sicilian sunshine, it takes the form of static images and exchanges of dialogue. The centrepiece is a lengthy scene with the protagonist's mother whose revelations reshape the family's emotional and political history, and who naturally directs the discussion towards simple but wonderful food. The starkness of the project may alienate many viewers, but there's no doubting the film-makers' committed investment in their subject matter.