London Film Festival – Review: Il Buco (2021)

One of the great things about being back in the cinema is that you get to experience films in an immersive way, rather than the pinpoint focus of a TV.  Without that option, films such as Michelangelo Frammartino’s ‘Il Buco’ would not have anywhere near the same impact.

10 years on from his small indie hit ‘La Quattro Volte’ he returns with what can only be described as a meditative look at at two worlds co-existing in the Italian countryside of the 1960s.  One of these is the slow paced life of an octogenarian cattle herder, while the other is a young excited group of cave explorers on an expedition to map what, at the time, is marked as the third deepest cave in the world.

As well as displaying these contrasting worlds, ‘Il Buco’ seems caught between two itself, neither being a narrative film, nor a documentary.  Instead it’s sort of contemplatively observational, idly letting events wash over the viewer slowly and soothingly.  Intercut with the cavers and the old man is footage of an informational film being watched by children in the local village. The presenter, a sort of Italian Michael Palin, is halfway up the Pirelli tower on a window cleaners platform discussing how he likes to watch the workers within.

Thus, there are many layers of perspective here.  The TV presenter and the workers, who in turn are being watched by the villagers, the old man gazing from the hillside at the commotion of the cavers below, and then finally the audience peering at all of it.  Everybody in that chain has their own view of what is important in theirs lives and find curiosity in what they are looking at.  Ultimately, it could be seen as a comment on how we all are with other people.  Sit on a train for any length of time and it’s almost possible not to wonder what everyone is doing.

The only real problem with ‘Il Buco’ is how much of this you can watch before it begins to lose your interest.  Some will find its running time way too long for a film without any significant dialogue, and there’s an argument that this should have been half this length.  Others however will revel in the calmness and be beguiled throughout.

Where it does succeed wholeheartedly is both visually and with its remarkable sound design.  The beauty of the Calabrian landscape around Mount Pollino is spectacularly cinematic and the large canvas is used well.  This allows a visual narrative to exist that leads the viewer on the cavers journey.  Similarly, the richness of the soundscape pulls you into the film, with the environment surrounding and enveloping you as the film moves through it.  Even with that though, it may not consistently hold your focus, and you can find yourself drifting out of its grasp.

As stated earlier, for many this will be the perfect escape that they’ve been needing, especially after the last year, so ‘Il Buco’ could be arriving at just the right time.  Just know though, that going in you may be enjoying this on a more technical level than you expected.

‘Il Buco’ is showing as part of the London Film Festival at the BFI Southbank NFT1 (Thursday 14th October), Odeon Luxe West End (Friday 15th October), and BFI Southbank Studio (Sunday 17th October).