Film Reviews

The Caiman

• Rating:
• Director: Nanni Moretti
• Starring: Jasmine Trinca
• Details: Italy / France / 112mins (15).

"Me? Make a lefty political film?" Bruno (Orlando) was a famous trashy B-movie producer in the '70s and, after a long hiatus that was only interrupted by the commercial fiasco of his last picture Cataracts, he is to produce a film about Christopher Columbus's homecoming. When Bruno is approached by Teresa (Trinca), an ambitious but novice writer-director who has written a dynamite yet damning script on Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, he gives the project the go-ahead - even though he hasn't read the script. With his wife divorcing him and the bank knocking at his door, Bruno finds that making a socially conscious film might be the only thing worthwhile in his life. The Caiman can be added to the growing list of classic movie-making movies and is, arguably, up there with the best. It is funny - not laugh out loud funny but definitely chuckle-heavy - throughout, and brings to mind the hilarious cancelled American series Action. The rapid-fire dialogue doesn't give you a moment's peace as one-liners come thick and fast. However, the humour (and it happens so subtly you hardly notice it) makes way for a more serious tone and it's a welcome change. If you liked the aforementioned Action, Living In Oblivion, Day For Night and Ed Wood, The Caiman is right up your street.

Review by Gavin Burke