L'altalena della vita

A hauntingly evocative tapestry of social volatility, L'altalena della vita navigates the precarious existence of its protagonists through the metaphorical rise and fall of a playground apparatus. Alberto Nepoti and Fabienne Fabrèges anchor a narrative steeped in the chiaroscuro of early 20th-century Italian melodrama, where the rigid stratifications of the bourgeoisie collide with the mercurial whims of destiny. The plot unfurls as a series of rhythmic fluctuations: a sudden ascent into the dizzying heights of romantic euphoria followed by a gut-wrenching descent into the abyss of societal ostracization. Fabrèges, portraying a woman caught in the centrifugal force of her own desires, embodies the 'divismo' style with a performance that is both physically demanding and psychologically nuanced. As the narrative arc bends under the weight of moral scrutiny, the film transforms into a visual poem about the fragility of status and the inescapable gravity of one's past, ultimately questioning whether the 'swing' of life can ever truly be stilled or if we are all merely passengers on a pendulum of our own making.