(2003)
REVIEWED BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY-DANIEL MORAWEK CAST-ANNA-MARIA AQUILINO, ANGELO CASTRONOVO, GIOVANNI MALTESE, and MELINDA MILIZIANO. SOURCE-LIFEHOUSE DVD SCREENER
A small Sicilian village is touched by a stranger who they call The Preacher. It seems that he is able to perform miracles of sorts. Creating quite a stir, his action attract a small time reporter, Silvia to cover his story. She ends up at the local café called Caffe Della Vita, which seems to be the center of all the village. Silvia isn’t the only one interested in The Preacher, it seems that the Catholic church sends in a contract to silence him, citing him to be creating too much of a stir. Once at the café, Silvia gets the waiter to tell her everything he knows about the Preacher, but really doesn’t get what’s she’s looking for. He uses locals sitting at the bar to tell stories of their encounters with the Preacher. One story he tells of a porno star who has a weird experience while the beginning of his next shoot.
During the filming of a scene, his mind picks up the woman’s thoughts. Scared and confused, he decided that after what he just heard, that he can’t continued and wants out. The second story revolves around a gay artist’s marriage falling apart, while his wife’s must deal with her own demons. She is an ex-assassin for the Mafia, and is nearly caught after killing her hit. The last story centers around a young woman who has become pregnant. Her family especially her father is furious, though her mother helps her through her ordeal. Though it is not enough the shame and guilt is too much forcing her try and commit suicide. While the stories are being told, the background story of the Silvia and the hit man continue to weave in and out creating a seamless story flow.
Shot in just 13 days, no script only a synopsis, armed with two digital cams, a microphone and three 300 watt lamps. Casting the film on location, this I find to be a very interesting idea as well, adding to the realism. What inspiration this film is, to go and just film an idea without having to go through all the pain most films have to go through. My hat is off to German director Daniel Morawek, who seems to have handled on this idea with such professionalism. CAFÉ DELLA VITA is simply a warm and wonderful take on several personal lives and woven together with a saint hard at work. Though for the most part, CAFÉ DELLA VITA is a drama in nature, there is still some great action via a thrilling cop chase through the streets of the small Sicilian village. The prospect of having contracted killers sent in to silence you, intriguing notions all around.
Lush scenery is in abundance here, the old historic streets and buildings are like concrete jungles. The sun always shining down, an indication on all the good the preacher is doing. The only death coming in the darkness of night. The warmth giving off by the locals as well is an added bonus and a touch of realism. All of these elements are incased with a superb score. Vast in range and sound, adding a real feel good atmosphere. For CAFFE DELLA VITA being a small shot for budget film, it truly displays a big heart all around.
One thing I must dwell on here a bit is the actors or pseudo actors for lacks of better words. Most of the people involved with the acting in the film weren’t actors at all, mainly real folk from around the areas in which CAFÉ was shot. Some crew filled in as well and what little acting experience that was employed was casted on the spot leaving little time to prepare. To tell you the truth, prepare for what, no script only an a set of ideas that certainly gelled quite nicely in the finished product. If I were to start a project very soon, this is certainly one concept I’d like to try considering lack of funding. Still even if there was a budget, people tend to get better results when going in everything is extracted from a single paragraph of ideas.
3.5 BITCH SLAPS
