Peppino, a seemingly lonely man, works as a taxidermist. Having his own shop, he also routinely works for the mafia, stashing various contraband in corpses. While admiring animals at the Zoo, Peppino finds himself entranced by the handsome Valerino, a waiter possessing signficant stature. Peppino hires Valerino to be his personal assistant, offering him a substantial amount of money to essentially be his protege. The two become close, going out of the town together and sharing prostitutes. While Peppino is subtlely pushing this relationship towards physical intimacy, Valerio meets Deborah, quickly beginning a passionate relationship with her. Matteo Garrone's The Embalmer is an intricate look at a character tettering on the edge of sanity, with Garrone exposing the unlikely accord that can exist between violence, passion, desire, and love. Garron creates very vivid psychological portraits in his films, with Peppino being one of my favorite. From the opening scene at the Zoo it becomes apparent that something is a litlte off with Peppino, with the film creating an ominous tone around the character, almost like he is stalking his prey. While the film never blantantly exposes Peppino's homosexuality on screen, Matteo makes it quite clear with his playful sensibilities. It's almost as if he is teasing the audience in a few scenes, like when Peppino is showing Valerio a ring, doing so in a way that conjures up wedding proposal imagery. The sequence is extremely well done and combinted with other scenes offers an nuanced gateway into Peppino true self. What makes Peppino such an fascinating character is how terryfing and possesive he becomes, with Matteo peeling back the layers of Peppino's psyche like an onion, exposing a ruthless, possessive man. Matteo Garrone's The Emballer is a quietly disturbing film, that provide a pensive study of not only Peppino, but all of its character's inner psychology.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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