The time it takes, the review of the film by Francesca Comencini

Between takes of Pinocchioone of his most famous works, Luigi Comencini he shouts: «First life, then cinema!». He’s not one to scream often, he is a calm, good and distinguished man, of those forged by the post-war period and its consequent enthusiasm. This time he’s angry with the assistant director, guilty of having treated one of the many ladies who live on the streets of the set where the film is being filmed badly: he shouldn’t look out of the window, if he appears on the scene the scene is throw away and it must be redone. But this matters little to Comencinihe and the others from the production are just guests, and as such they must respect the place where they are: as he shouts at the assistant, life comes first. No the time it takesthe new film by Francesca Comencini presented out of competition at the latest edition of the Venice Film Festival, life comes first, cinema acts as a glue between one day and anotheris a strong cure for the sorrows that can upset a family and is the only thing capable of filling the void of a teenager who grew up in the years of lead.

It’s the story of a father, Luigi Comencinimasterfully played by Fabrizio GifuniOf his daughter Francescaplayed by the very talented Romana Maggiora Vergano, and of their intricate relationship. He is a father always presentdespite his work, he participates in every moment of his daughter’s life: he accompanies her to school and solves all her problems personally. He knows how to cheer her up when she’s sad and how to convince her to overcome all her fears. Their relationship is based on trust: the father always believes his daughter and she always tells the truth. Everything goes smoothly until that little girl incapable of telling lies grows up and becomes a little womanat the mercy of her future and of an uncertainty that torments her. He doesn’t feel capable of doing anything, he has no vocation and he looks with great distrust of tomorrow. The years in which he grows up are difficult: there is the massacre of Fountain Squarethere is the kidnapping of Idalgo Macchiarinimanager of Sit Siemens, the first seized by Red Brigades. One of the slogans of the Red Brigades seems to be the only phrase capable of giving her courage: «Hit and Run! Punish one to punish 100! Maybe she doesn’t even believe in armed struggle, but she went so far as to write that sentence on the wall of her room. But in the years of lead, in addition to terrorism, another evil began to emerge: the heroine. She also arrived in the life of this insecure girl who he has now learned to tell lieshe is ashamed of what he does and is unable to confess it to his father, who in the meantime is falling ill Parkinson And she began to question her daughter’s sincerity.

Francesca Comencini decided to say thank you to her father. She did it wonderfully, when the time was now ripe, she was old enough to talk about her own frailties and more than expert to be able to make the right tribute to a director who made the history of our cinema. The time it takes it is not just an autobiographical story. Starting from the early years of childhood up to late adolescence, we witness the development of a relationship made up of ups and downs, the one between a father who fears for the future of his now ex-child And a daughter who shares his same concerns. Not only that, the teenage Francesca struggles to accept his father’s illnessespecially when the relationship has now been rediscovered and they fear losing it. The fear of failure is a great worry for Francesca, only when she has the strength to admit it will she discover how much it is for her father too: «Always try and always fail, and always fail better» it will be Comencini’s lesson to his daughter. The shared love for cinema will then take care of things, making Francesca find her true path.

The film also offers some insights into Luigi Comencini’s professional life: his approach on the set, the modus operandi and the great commitment to preserving cinema, what convinced him to save the films of many silent films destined for pulping, images which were then used for the creation of The time it takes.

The narrative of the Years of Lead joins the personal oneallowing us to take a big leap into the past, into a historical period that characterized our country more than others. Comencini does this by taking care of the settings and the context. Photography, entrusted to Luca Bigazzirecord holder of victories of David di Donatello for best director of photographycolor those in the right colors years of terrorism and naive carelessness. Fabrizio Gifuni he is the author of a wonderful interpretation, he returns to act in a film set in that period, after having embodied Aldo Moro in Exterior Nighta role that earned him the David di Donatello as best leading actor in the film directed by Marco Bellocchiowho is among the producers of this film. Romana Maggior Vergano is a daughter again, after convincing her in There’s still tomorrow by Paola Cortellesi: passed with flying colors also in this film, in which she has the difficult task of playing the director’s alter ego. Francesca as a child is instead played by the debutant Anna Mangiacavallo.

The time it takes it is a film of rare humanity capable of moving in the face of the fragility of a father and a daughter. The director allows the viewer to enter her own life and introduces him to the difficult 70s from a completely unusual perspective. The strength of cinema with which «you can escape is exalted. with the imagination” and gives value to life, but be careful, they must be placed in the right order: «First life, then cinema».