A little monastery in tuscany

Camera: Raphaël O’Byrne
Production management: Brigitte Lécuyer, Sara Tondini
Coproduction: France Regions 3 (FR3), La Sept Cinéma, Sodaparega Productions

Festivales:

1988 Venice Film  Festival (Filmcritica Bastone Bianco Award, Special Mention, New Cinema Award, Special Mention, UNESCO Award)

Olive picking takes place in the mornings, time and work are the verbs conjugated in this reel made by Iosseliani at the end of the 1980’s. The space is perfect to trap the quiet passing of the hours: a small monastery in the Tuscany countryside, in Montalcino, near Siena. The clock ticks, marked by the cycles of nature outside, the monastic rhythm inside the walls is responsible for the spiritual routine. Five young Augustinian monks are followed by Iosseliani’s camera at a distance that enables us to become another monk. The song of the slaughterer and the humming of the farmhand outside are combined with the prayer calls. Suddenly, barking and fog, and shooting. Autumn and hunting comes to the surrounding area. The Georgian director is responsible for directing and staging, where he maintains an important balance between the earthly and the spiritual world. As said of Tarkovski, “Iosseliani’s camera, filled with everyday insignificance and, nevertheless, full of poetry”. The film ends with a broken promise:  “The first part ends here, the second will be filmed 20 years later in the same place and the same people, if all goes well”.