Conceived after nearly two decades of collaboration between the prominent photographer and the renowned filmmaker, and feeling about as long, Fabio Lovino’s personal portrait of Marco Bellocchio feels as stunted biographically and film-historically as its running time of just over an hour. What was supposed to be a defining documentary on the titular protagonist is mostly a flattering fan service that makes little use of its first-hand access to Bellocchio’s creative process and private world. The first few scenes set the tone for a mythologizing monument hailing the Italian actor and director as a titan of his craft, one of the great faces of European cinema, a living legend.
At least Lovino seems determined to make his subject one. His utterly conventional account of Bellocchio and his work focuses almost exclusively on his successes and strengths, leaving next to no room for failures and character flaws. Close friends and colleagues become the talking heads officiously affirming his supposed genius without revealing any deeper insights into his inspirations and influences. A longtime collaborator of Bellocchio himself, Lovino approaches his subject with proud admiration and with the obvious advantage of a trusted pal. Ironically, it seems this extended proximity and friendly relations undermine his professional objectivity. Without any documentarist distance, the result tends towards becoming a bloated biopic.
With an indisputable sense for visuals and flattering framing, Lovino’s camera follows the actor-director on sets, in rehearsal rooms, and in front of landscapes and historic structures supposedly mirroring his eternal greatness. A touch of irony or self-deprecation would have balanced this pathos-heavy posing, but when there is laughter on screen, it’s jovial and self-congratulatory. At a moment when the protagonist, who is now well into his eighties, continues to work prolifically in cinema and on television projects, as if eager to use any time that remains, a documentary on his life feels also a bit like a promotional exercise. Obviously, the greatest asset should be Bellocchio himself with decades of extensive experience.
However, there is not much noteworthy in his ruminations, which seem most revealing in regard to the issues they don’t mention. Even the eclectic excerpts of his better-known films reveal their sexism, theatrics, and clichés, but unsurprisingly, no one mentions how badly they aged. There is no comment on the chauvinism, classism, and xenophobia rampant in the films of his generation. Even for his time, Bellocchio’s acting style, with its emphasis on emotional expression and dramatic gravitas, appears somewhat old-school (not to say old-fashioned). But there is no deeper discussion of artistic approaches, trends and their counter-trends, or creative development. Ironically, many of his phrases sound like preconceived dialogue.
Admiration replaces analysis to the point that the praise becomes a monotonous mantra. Bellocchio’s work ethos and ingenuity are applauded over and over. That enduring sense of curiosity he allegedly retained over the years is never palpable in Lovino’s larger-than-life portrait. Though visually polished, it stays frustratingly complacent in its revision of roughly six decades of Bellocchio’s influence on Italian cinema, and conformist in carefully treading around his political position. Lovino indeed places his camera close to Bellocchio, recording gestures and glances, but the audience is never allowed to get close to his subject. The titular “door to reality” remains firmly shut in favor of a harmonious homage.
- OT: Marco Bellocchio: La porta della Realtà
- Director: Fabio Lovino
- Year: 2026
