Happy as Lazzaro

Synopsis: It's summer at Inviolata, an isolated rural estate, where an extended family of tobacco farmers toil under the rule of a domineering marchesa, and where the handsome and hard-working Lazzaro, a young man imbued with a saint-like innocence, is alternately adored and taken advantage of. When the marchesa's self-absorbed son, Tancredi first visits the fields, he senses an opportunity, and embroils Lazzaro in an audacious plan that spirals out of control and throws the estate into a complicated chaos that takes everybody by surprise. Channelling the spirit of Pasolini, Rohrwacher's fascinating, deeply affecting parable casts an ethereal, wondrous spell, and confirms her status as one of the most inventive and compelling voices in contemporary Italian cinema with this utterly transporting film experience. Winner of the Best Screenplay award at Cannes 2018.

“Through a few dreamlike, discreet and beautifully placed sequences, Rohrwacher makes us believe that a world of empathy and accord may someday exist again.”~The Playlist

NZ International Film Festival 2019