| The Consequences of Love | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Paolo Sorrentino |
| Written by | Paolo Sorrentino |
| Starring | Toni Servillo Olivia Magnani Adriano Giannini Gianna Paola Scaffidi Raffaele Pisu |
| Music by | Pasquale Catalano |
| Cinematography | Luca Bigazzi |
| Editing by | Giogiò Franchini |
| Release date(s) | 2004 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
The Consequences of Love (Italian: Le conseguenze dell'amore) is a 2004 Italian psychological thriller film directed by Paolo Sorrentino. It tells the story of a lonely and secretive Italian businessman living in a Swiss hotel. The film competed at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival.[1] It won five David di Donatello awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor. It was also the first film to achieve widespread critical acclaim for Sorrentino.
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Titta Di Girolamo is a middle-aged loner who has spent the last eight years living in an upmarket hotel in Lugano, Switzerland. Every day he puts on his suit and wanders around, avoiding contact with people. In the morning, he solves the chess puzzles in the paper and in the evening he plays Grabber with a bankrupt aristocratic couple who are marooned in the hotel they used to own. Occasionally, he rings his family in Italy but his wife is always reluctant to talk, and his grown-up children despise him. He develops feelings for Sofia, the beautiful and stylish waitress at the bar of the hotel but he refuses to speak to her because, in his shyness, he fears that love would complicate his monotone but quiet life.
The reasons behind Titta's strange existence gradually become apparent. The story actually becomes clear only at the end of the movie. Eight years ago, it is revealed, Titta was a broker who invested large sums of money. One day, he invested 250 billion Italian liras on behalf of Cosa Nostra, losing 220 billions in a few hours. By way of punishment, Titta was forced to live for the rest of his life as a mafia pawn, making regular deliveries of suitcases full of money to a Swiss bank.
Titta's other secret is that he is a heroin user. Every Wednesday at ten a.m., this respectable forty-nine-year-old businessman goes up to his hotel room and injects himself with the drug.
One day, things start to happen: two Mafia men suddenly arrive in his hotel room, which they intend to use as a base in order to carry out an assassination. As the two gangsters leave, they notice the suitcase containing the money that Titta must deliver that week. Later, Titta's gregarious younger stepbrother turns up. He encourages Titta to engage with Sofia more, and Sofia and Titta begin an awkward relationship which is romantic but not sexual. They go shopping together, and Titta buys her some shoes.
Meanwhile, during Titta's trip to the bank that week, the bank staff counting the money by hand discover that there is $100,000 missing. Titta is already aware of this, but pretends to be outraged at their "mistake" and asks to close his account. His bluff achieves the intended result: in order to avoid offending him, and partly out of fear of the Mafia, the bank staff pretend that they miscounted, and so his theft goes unreported.
It eventually turns out that Titta has stolen the money in order to buy an expensive car for Sofia. She is initially appalled by this gift, as she feels she does not know him well enough, but later comes up to his room to apologise and to try to discover more about him. Titta reveals all his secrets to her, and Sofia is so touched that she offers to celebrate his 50th birthday with him on the following evening. He accepts.
The next day, the two Mafia assassins return and steal that week's suitcase. Titta panics and immediately telephones his Mafia contact, Pippo, who tells him to fly to Southern Italy that day to explain. But then Titta regains his composure, grabs his gun and switches off the power for the elevator, forcing the Mafia men to use the stairs as a getaway. This slows them down, and Titta is able to use the lift himself to get to the carpark ahead of them. He hides in his car, and kills the duo when they arrive.
Despite recovering the money, Titta decides to fly to Southern Italy anyway to explain himself. His reasons are initially unclear and he seems uncertain about following through his plans, partly because they will force him to miss his supper with Sofia. However, when Sofia fails to turn up, a despondent Titta, thinking that no-one loves him, leaves for the airport. Actually, Sofia does not turn up because she is involved in a car crash.
Arriving at destination, Titta is taken to a nearby hotel and, after waiting in a guestroom, is interrogated by a capo di tutti capi. Titta explains that he has recovered the money but then says he does not want to give it back. At this point, the Mafia boss ominously tells a subordinate to transfer Titta's account to someone else before asking Titta to tell him where the money is. Titta again refuses. He is led away by guards and the next morning is taken to a building site. Here he is suspended from a crane above a container of fresh concrete, and told that unless he reveals the money's whereabouts, he will be drowned in the concrete. As he has already given the money to the elderly aristocrats in the hotel, he refuses.
The film ends with Titta being lowered into the concrete and thinking of his long-lost friend Dino, who works as an electrician in the Alps.
The film is noted for its extremely stylish cinematography. The most memorable scene features Titta injecting himself with heroin and sees the camera flip 180 degrees as it follows Titta's falling head. Critics have also praised the film's tracking shots and the opening sequence, which depicts a bright white corridor.
The film's soundtrack uses atmospheric electronica and postrock music, with songs from bands including Mogwai, Lali Puna, Boards of Canada and Terranova.[2]
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