The son of a large family and raised in the strictness of the Catholic faith of post-war Italy, Marco Bellocchio lived for a long time in his childhood with the fear of committing a mortal sin and going to hell. A pain that followed him for years. And if he moved away from religion very quickly, embracing the ideas of the revolutionary left of his time (1960s), “These are emotions that remain buried deep inside me and feed my imagination on a regular basis.”confesses today.
Marco Bellocchio, director of the movie “Esterno notte”, was photographed at the Majestic Hotel during the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2022. /Audoin Desforges/Pasco&co
Taken to Rome and placed in a “house of catechumens,” the boy finds himself in one of these huge dormitories in the evening, deprived of his family and terrorized by the symbols of his new religion, including the omnipresent crucified Christ. a gesture “extreme violence”He underlines that he is making a commitment on behalf of an abstract principle that Marco Bellocchio embodies. non-possum This was stated by Pope Pius IX after public opinion in Italy, as in all of Europe, urged him to return the child to his parents.
The 83-year-old filmmaker still denies any ideological intentions. “My film is not a manifesto against the Pope or the Church; What interested me above all was the history of humanity and family, the sincere drama that this child lived through. Small story that fits into the big story. » The unification of Italy and the shaking of the temporal power of the Pope also marks the end of the 19th century.to The century when liberal and progressive ideas clashed with conservatism and tradition.
But as is often the case with Marco Bellocchio, behind the uncompromising political statement and the magnificently staged historical reconstruction, what interests him is the heartbreak inside little Edgardo. “When I discovered this story, I was fascinated by the mystery of this boy who, fifteen years later, when he had the opportunity to liberate himself and reunite with his family, decided to remain faithful to the Catholic religion and the Pope. » The martyr of a cause beyond his control and the impossibility of any compromise.
Just as the Christ-like figure of Aldo Moro, the prime minister who was kidnapped and assassinated by the Red Brigades in 1978, permeates the series Esterno note which the director signed for Arte last year. “I can’t say that this martyr figure obsesses me, but it intrigues me. the director explains. Edgardo and Aldo Moro are both prisoners, but they come from very different realities. Aldo Moro had to be sacrificed because of his openness to the communists, which was unacceptable in the context of the Cold War. Edgardo saves his life but not his soul. He converts but loses the most important thing, his family, his parents. »
Childhood, family, religion, private tragedy are themes that permeate all of Marco Bellocchio’s work. And we can’t help but see this To collect Echoes between the Mortaras, this wealthy family with eight children, and the family of Marco Bellocchio in Piacenza. “It is true that the situation of this wealthy family, whose children I show playing in this big house in a warm climate, resonates strongly with my personal experience, even if my family has experienced other tragedies.”the director insists.
His was the suicide of his twin brother Camillo in 1968, when he was 29 years old. He devoted a very personal documentary to this in 2021, Marx can waitReleased simultaneously in cinemas in France To collect. It allows us to better understand the career of this unusual director and shed light on his entire filmography. “That wasn’t my original intention, he admits. But wanting to delve deeper into this drama and talking to my brothers, sisters, and children, I put together a series of images that sum up everything I do. It is a very important film for me that tells everything about my life and work. »
