DbcultAccessing Vault...
5.8/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.8/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Zitari remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you’re the type of person who digs through the bargain bin of history just to see what’s buried there, you’ll probably get a kick out of this. If you need a movie to actually make sense, or if you get impatient when the story stalls for five minutes just so someone can look out a window, stay away.
It’s a quiet, strange little film that doesn't really care if you're keeping up. Honestly, it barely seems to know where it's going itself.
Medea de Novara is doing a lot of heavy lifting here with her eyes. There’s a scene about halfway through where she’s just… standing there. For a long time. I checked my watch. It felt like she was waiting for a bus that was never going to show up.
It reminded me a bit of the pacing in Earth Spirit, where the silence becomes a character in itself. Sometimes it works. Sometimes you just want someone to say something already. 🙄
The lighting in some of the interior shots is oddly flat. It gives the whole thing this weird, stage-play feel that’s almost uncomfortable. Like you’re watching neighbors argue through a crack in the door.
It’s nowhere near as cohesive as something like Battleship Potemkin, but that’s not really the point, is it? It feels more like a sketch than a finished painting. It’s messy. It’s got that weird, grainy texture that makes you feel like you’re sitting in a drafty theater.
I didn't hate it. I also don't think I'll ever watch it again. It’s just… there. A piece of history that’s perfectly content being forgotten, and there’s something kind of honest about that.
Also, the music choice in the restoration is distractingly loud. It sounds like a circus piano fighting a losing battle against a migraine. Maybe just watch it on mute and put on your own record instead.