“No Special Place” by Uberto Pasolini in the cinema: The Last Days of Innocence – Culture

As a spectator, you sneak slowly and quietly into John’s daily life, as if there was nothing special to tell, as if your gaze had been caught on him while you waited on a street corner in a small Northern Irish town. So this serious young man with the silhouette of a bird tattooed on his neck steps forward in his carriage and lifts the folding ladder from the ceiling. James Norton as John hides his dazzling gaze with stern honesty and restraint. He works as a glass cleaner, and while he works on the panels with a rag and glass cleaner, his sight falls into apartments and offices.

You can feel the faint gloom, that touch of pain with which people look through panes of glass at familiar family ghosts and the warm lights they have been left out – especially at Christmas movies. Later you see the single dad with his little son, they make a cute team, when John cleans his car, Michael is also excitedly foaming his plastic truck, at the supermarket they turn the shopping cart into a carousel, and when dad reads it says “page” out loud in bed , his son turns the page. Slowly consciousness creeps up to jeopardize this small family unit, information that John has no longer to live. It’s not as aggressive as usual in films Goodbyes and Deadly Diseases – the special feature of “No Special Place” is that it doesn’t get caught up in drama at all while the father creates a kind of protective cocoon around his son, in the last days and weeks of sheltered childhood.

A father and son drama devoid of emotion? This is acceptable

Even as a producer of films like “Kleine Gangster große Kohl” and “Ganz oder nicht”, Uberto Pasolini – who has cinema in his genes, although not because of his relationship with Pier Paolo of the same name, but as Luchino Visconti’s nephew – is feeling apprehensive And the struggles of the little man, which can be mitigated a little with humor and humanity. Despite his Italian citizenship, he has been working in British cinema for decades in English. In his second directorial work, Mr. May Whispers of Eternity, he also developed a sweet story about dying. Eddie Marsan played a social worker who put a lot of effort and perseverance into tracking down those who died alone.

No Special Place is the third film directed by Uberto Pasolini. In it he manages to tell the drama in a very intimate and poignant way, but completely devoid of emotion. At some point young Michael notices strange things happening around him, and throughout the afternoon and early evening visits to strangers, the friendly cling with which he attracts complete strangers. As John’s strength wanes, he must make preparations for the time when he can no longer be there for his son, to find a family to take him in. It’s the little moments that bring tears to your eyes: a car mechanic who only pays the parts bill, a committed social worker a little more than he has to, a four-year-old who gives his dad 35. A candle because the chocolate cake is enough that he won’t need it anymore.

no special placeGB, Italy, Romania 2020 – Written and directed by Uberto Pasolini. Camera: Marios Bandoro. Starring: James Norton, Daniel Lamont. Rental: Bevel, 96 minutes. Theatrical performance: October 7, 2021