For a long time, the protean independent filmmaker Abel Ferrara has found a way to, if not thrive, then at least produce, while lost in a wilderness of his own making. With his new picture, the semi-autobiographical “Tommaso,” he reflects on the sober life, one that the filmmaker himself has reportedly been leading in Rome, where this movie is set.
Willem Dafoe, a longtime collaborator of Ferrara’s whose deftness at portraying both tenderness and ferocity make him a very apt surrogate for the director, plays the title character. Early scenes see him taking Italian lessons; getting an espresso and chatting it up with the attractive woman who’s making it for him; cooking dinner with the mother of his child; and working on a film script.
These opening scenes suggest a kind of pastorale, to the extent that one wonders: Is Ferrara, whose movies almost compulsively dig into the darkest corners of human experience, going to pull off a modest cinematic celebration of relatively serene domesticity?
Well, not quite. All is not entirely well in Tommaso’s world. In a park with his daughter he sees his wife kissing another man. He struggles creatively — in crafting his script, he muses on variants of the Rimbaud pronouncement, “I is another,” and wrestles with his own ego’s place in a process that demands more empathy. After one Alcoholics Anonymous meeting (and this movie depicts such gatherings with striking, uncondescending accuracy), a fellow tells him, “Anger occupies so much space in your life, there’s very little energy for anything else.”
The movie enters fantasy realms often, but “Tommaso” has a different feel than your average variant on Fellini’s “8 ½.” Maybe it’s a sense of shame, something the older film’s Guido hadn’t much of. Whatever it is, it makes “Tommaso” crackle with ideas and empathy, as Ferrara’s best work always does.
Tommaso
Not rated. In English, Italian and Russian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes. Watch on Film at Lincoln Center’s virtual cinema.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
