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Cult Review
Senior Film Conservator
Honestly, only if you are already into 1930s Italian history or really care about classical music history. It is a slow, quiet film. If you prefer the energy of something like Sahara, you are going to be bored out of your mind within ten minutes.
It is not a bad movie. It is just… very old-fashioned. It feels like it was filmed in a library.
There is a lot of staring out of windows. Pergolesi looks sad. Everyone around him looks worried. It hits all those beats you expect from a "tormented genius" story. There is no attempt to modernize the pacing here. It just kind of drifts along like a boat in a fog.
The lighting is super dramatic, lots of shadows hiding the sets. I think the budget was mostly spent on the costumes and the music rights. You can tell they were trying to make it feel important. Maybe a little too hard.
There is this one scene—the one where he is writing his final piece—that actually got to me. It feels very personal, almost like an intrusion. The silence in the room is heavy. It made me think of the quiet desperation in La marche nuptiale. It’s a nice moment in an otherwise very stagey production.
Don't expect an action-packed thrill ride. It’s a biopic. It’s a tragedy. It’s a bit dusty. If you are in the mood for something that moves at the speed of a candle burning down, you might actually like this. If you need a plot that moves, well, maybe skip it. 🎻
Sometimes the camera lingers on a candle for just a few seconds too long. I started counting. I think it was six seconds. Why six? Who knows. It’s weirdly hypnotic, though.