And the audience have voted for the Feast Of Italian Film.

 

The Bicycle Thief –  82%

Le Quattro Volte –  59%   

Comments after the break…

AUDIENCE RESPONSE – The Bicycle Thief   82%

•  Beautiful black and white films, were able to identify with the characters, especially the little boy who was brilliant.
• Loved this film  a very sad ending but a good representation of values, struggles and nostalgia.
• One of cinema’s great achievements. Lovely film.
• Superb.
• Great acting, humour and heart rending.
• A film of which one will never tire, a tribute to the human spirit also fantastic frwod scenes which I would imagine are done mainly by non professional actors.
• Fantastic film.
• Beautiful venue.
• Good story line very sad at end, really enjoyed.
• I can see why it is regarded as a classic, kept you gripped until the end.
• A niaive and good man who is tempted by life, the boy is excellent and must have become an adult actor!
• Excellent music, very real plot.
• A wonderful film, very moving, stunning photography, great music and the little boy was superb. I’d watch it again.
• Lovely film, so sad one felt such pathos for the characters.
• This is so brilliant it has layers and layers o implications. I need to contemplate it a lot.
• Simple story with a lot of meaning. Was very drawn in to the characters and felt for him – something lacking in many modern ‘mainstream’ movies. Very real and emotional.
• This film should be showed to a wider audience to remind us what we gained after the second WW.
• Beautiful film – poignant – wonderful portrayal of childhood – what a moral dilemma!
• An excellent neo-realism film, every bit as good as I Vitellone – any chance of showing this sometime?
• Excellent commentary on the plight of the poor and the bond between father and son. It seemed that the boy was showing the father the correct way to behave.
• Really good  enjoyable   insight into Italian social history.
• Conveyed unrelenting poverty and the desperation that can cause very well  – the child conveyed his feelings well.
• Very sad,  young boy excellent,   sound could have been clearer.
• Atmospheric and uplifting!  Spells out the dangers of a poor economy which can turn otherwise honest people to desperate measures.
• Very well made – first part was like watching a NH patients treatment – life is reality enough.
• Young boy excellent – very sad, the disappointments of the son in his father – not a hero after all.
• Completely different to anything else    evocative.  Stunning photography – quite moving – dog played a wonderful part!
• Quite enjoyable.
• A bit bleak,  the ending was inconclusive – was there a moral?
• Can we have some more comedy please??  I enjoyed it but it was a bit miserable.
• Poor sound,   poor story,  very disappointed with the film in general. There are better quality Italian films to be found.

AUDIENCE RESPONSE – Le Quattro Volte  59%   

• Very different – carried by the cycle of ashes to ashes.
• Different – thought provoking.
• Seemed quite clever, arty, but I didn’t quite get it. Not a tourist spot and what about the kid?  What was the point?
• Quite a depressing film. No dialogue made it worse.
• A bit sad and depressing  but interesting all the same.
• Beautifully filmed – loved the patterns and shapes of the wood   but what happened to the little kid?
• Different – liked photography, cycle of life, well portrayed.
• In spite of some rather baffling moments and very good use of B & W to emphasise textures and changes in the weather/landscape.
• Visual feast.
• Very thought provoking.
• Full of symbolism.
• I loved it – very relaxing to just sit back and watch – no plot to follow – lovely.
• It took a while to get used to this one   the pace of life linking things up,  the austerity of it all,  but ultimately I got more involved.
• Beautifully shot lovely film   – but what happened to the dog?
• Oddly compelling didn’t quite understand it  but enjoyed it ,  thank you.
• Calming contemplative,   reminded me of my childhood – simple, self sufficient.
• V sad that a young animal was used in that way. 2 superb films.
• Really enjoyed it,  great cinematography and a beautiful depiction of a humble existence . Will watch again.
• Pontardawe arts centre is a beautiful venue.
• Beautiful extraordinary, surprising, challenging and completely satisfying   this film challenges our accepted (Western) preoccupation with explaining everything in words.
• Nice change from usual cinema  – loved the ‘scenes’ and especially the main character,  pity there wasn’t a resolution.
• Interesting cinematography   – old man, young goat – turns 3 and 4 are open to interpretation.
• A lot of symbolism – the man dies and his spirit moves on to the kid – the kid dies and the spirit moves to the tree – the tree is cut down and turned into charcoal which is then burnt and the spirit is released in the atmosphere.
• An hour and half of my life which I’ll not get back. Re. Italian Film Fest – the 2 films were too similar  i.e. B & W, not much dialogues, atmospheric  would have been nice to have 2 different films that the Indian film festival.
• Unfortunately I found the film boring – not for me.
• Must have missed the point – found it tedious in the extreme – though some interesting photography.
• Did not enjoy this   – it didn’t work on any level for me.
• Very disappointing.
• Don’t know whether I would have understood, had it not been explained before…. Not sure about this one at all.
• Not sure about the purpose – went on a bit, but beautiful shots of trees.
• No good beating about the bush – it got my goat! No kidding.
• Appreciate the B & W filming and why it was filmed but although it is critically acclaimed it was boring.