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Four Times

The Four Times

Le Quattro Volte

Michelangelo Frammartino

  • Country: Italy, Germany, Switzerland
  • Year: 2010
  • Language: Italian
  • Producer: Susanne Marian, Philippe Bober, Gabriella Manfré, Andres Pfaeffli
  • Executive Producer: Gregorio Paoness, Marta Donzelli, Gabriella Manfé
  • Screenplay: Michelangelo Frammartino
  • Runtime: 88
  • Programmes:

Inspired by Pythagoras’s belief in four-fold transmigration – by which the soul is passed from human to animal to vegetable to mineral, until completely purified – The Four Times is a genre-defying work of cinematic transcendence that follows the journey of an elderly shepherd through the afterlife.

Aging,  Fantasy,  Experimental & Avant-garde

screening times

    • Friday September 10
    • 7:45:00 PM
    • AMC 5
    • Saturday September 11
    • 12:15:00 PM
    • AMC 4
    • Sunday September 12
    • 2:15:00 PM
    • AMC 4

Note: indicates Premium Screening.

official description

Said to be inspired by Pythagoras’s belief in four-fold transmigration – by which the soul is passed from human to animal to vegetable to mineral, until completely purified – The Four Times is a genre-defying work of cinematic transcendence. The film, which delves into a world of tantalizing philosophy, unfolds in a gorgeous sequence of long takes, shot with vitality and imagination.

While the film focuses initially on the perspective of an old shepherd – who will later become a baby goat, a giant tree and, hilariously, a lump of coal – the heart of Michelangelo Frammartino’s (The Gift) majestic sophomore feature lies in its exploration of the tangible versus the metaphysical. Frammartino captures the nebulous space between seeming and being, delighting his viewers with a lyrical approach to a topic that’s as magical as it is bizarre.

Coasting across the countryside around an isolated Calabrian village, Frammartino’s spirited film showcases rural life in its various renditions, shifting from the everyday to the exceptional. Humour, pathos and dazzling camerawork inflect seemingly random sequences, evincing Frammartino’s deft sense of timing. He shows off his comic chops when a herd of goats runs haywire through the village and invades the shepherd’s home just moments before he departs for the netherworld.

An homage, on one hand, to the physical beauty of life, this fantastical film is anything but earthbound. Frammartino’s ability to meld the prosaic with the sublime is a mark of extraordinary cinematic dexterity. His camera is always positioned at just the right angle, appearing to anticipate life instead of simply following it around. The Four Times embodies a certain candour, as authentic at times as any documentary, but Frammartino’s playful layering of style and theme make for an explosively original film.

Dimitri Eipides

director bio

Michelangelo Frammartino was born in Milan and studiedarchitecture at the Politecnico di Milano. Previously a short film director andvideo installation artist, he has since gone on to direct the award-winningfeature The Gift (03). His latestfilm, The Four Times (10), won theEuropa Cinemas Label as best European film at the Cannes Film Festival’sDirectors’ Fortnight.

full credits

Principal Cast: Giuseppe Fuda, Bruno Timpano, Nazareno Timpano
Producer: Susanne Marian, Philippe Bober, Gabriella Manfré, Andres Pfaeffli
Executive Producer: Gregorio Paoness, Marta Donzelli, Gabriella Manfé
Cinematographer: Andrea Locatelli
Editor: Benni Atria, Maurizio Grillo
Sound: Paolo Benvenutti, Simone Paolo Olivero
Production Designer: Matthew Broussard
   
International Sales Agent: Coproduction Office
Production Company: Vivo Film Srl
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