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After years of neglect by UK distributors,the Taviani brothers are back, well into theireighties, with their grittiest lm yet, the GoldenBear-winning CaesarMust Die, a raw slabof Shakespeare lmed in a Roman prisonBy Pasquale Iannone

TheTaviani brothers often tell the story of the epiphanicmoment when they decided to become filmmakers.Vittorio (born 1929) and Paolo (born 1931)were still intheirteenswhentheydriftedintoahalf-emptyscreeningof RossellinisPais (1946) in their TuscanhometownofSanMiniato.Completelyoverwhelmedbytheraw,clear-eyed power of Rossellinis images, theymade the jointdecisionthereandthentopursueacareerinlmmaking.Shortlyafterwards,thebrothersjoinedforceswithyoungcommunist (and former partisan) Valentino Orsini todirect a seriesof experimentalplays: energetic fusionsofcommedia dellarte, Brecht and (Rossellinian) neoreal-ism. In one production, they explored the history ofLivornesedockworkers, invitingthedockersthemselvesto talk about their livesunder fascismand their involve-mentwiththeresistancemovement.Whiletheseexperi-ences were undoubtedly valuable, it was clear that forOrsini and the Tavianis, the theatre was a stop-gap away of testing out ideas and techniques beforemakingthe leap to cinema.Under the guidance ofwriter and theorist Cesare Za-

vattini, the trio shot theirrstdocumentarySanMiniato,July 1944 (1954) beforemaking the decisivemove southtoRomeinthemid-1950s.There, aswellasmakinga fur-therninedocumentaries, theygainedexperienceasassis-tant directors and screenwriters beforemounting theirfeature debutAMan for Burning (Un uomo da bruciare)in 1962. Their collaborationwithOrsini having run itscourse by themid-1960s, the Tavianis soon establishedthemselvesasimportantguresofpost-neorealist Italiancinema.Theirdeeplypersonal,politicallyengagedworkssuch asThe Subversives (I sovversivi, 1967),Under the Signof Scorpio (Sotto il segno dello scorpione, 1968),Allonsanfn(1974) and the PalmedOr-winning Padre Padrone (1977)grappled with neorealism while departing sig-nicantly from it. (Like other lmmakers of their

HONOUR

MEN

THEYVEALLGOTIT IN FORMECaesar (Giovanni Arcuri,centre) in the convictproduction of Julius Caesarlmed in CaesarMust Die

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CAESAR MUSTDIETAVIANI BROTHERS

generation, thebrotherswere leftdisillusionedbyits slide into insipid naturalism after its post-war

heyday.)WhenPaoloandIareaskedaboutpost-warItal-iancinema,saysVittorio,now83, thebrotherwhotakeson interviewduties, wealwaysuse themetaphorof thetree: the roots deepundergroundareRossellini, ViscontiandDe Sicawhile the branches above are directors likeus, Bertolucci, Scola, Ferreri andothers. Althoughweallsproutedoff indifferentdirections, the roots remained.Thebrothershavegonebacktotheirroots (boththeat-

rical andlmic) forCaesarMustDie (Cesare devemorire).Their 17th picture sees real-life inmates stage a versionofShakespeares JuliusCaesarwithin thewallsofRomesRebibbia prison. The film comes after 2007s The LarkFarm (Lamasseria delle allodole), a historical epic chroni-cling theArmeniangenocideof1915.Despiteboastingahigh-prole internationalcast (PazVega,AngelaMolina,TchkyKaryo), the lmwas not released theatrically intheUK, a fate shared bymost of the Tavianis output ofthepast twodecades. As aproject,TheLarkFarmwas re-allyclosetoourheartsandweregladthattheArmeniansthemselves were pleasedwith it, Vittorio recalls. Weeven received a prize from their government for high-lighting this tragic episode in theirhistory.Looking back over the brothers body ofwork, its ap-

parent that theyve often followed up the exertions ofan epic productionwith lms on amuch smaller scale(PadrePadroneafterAllonsanfn, for instance),butVittorioinsists this is unintentional: WithCaesarMust Die, wedidnt set out tomake a low-budget lm it just turnedout thatway. But I have to say that duringlming, Paoloand I feltwewereworkingwith thesamesimplicityandspontaneityof our early features.The initial idea for the lm camewhen the brothers

were invited to a prison inmates production ofDantesThe Divine Comedy. It affected us so deeply that weboth agreed we had to make a film about it, Vittorioexplains. Most of our projects happen that way: wereeithermoved by something orwe are confrontedwitha situation completely alien to us that we want to ex-plore.When deciding on a piece for the inmates to per-form,we thought that it had to be a playwith an Italiansetting onewhich loomed large in the popular imagi-nation. It alsohad tobe apiecewhich the inmates couldconnectwith.The brothers began reading Shakespeare at a young

age and,while they have never attempted a full adapta-tion, the Bardhas been a constant source of inspiration.InAMan for Burning, for instance, they depict SalvatoreCarnevale the union-leader protagonist played byGianMaria Volont as a latter-day Coriolanus, whileAllonsanfns Fulvio Imbriani (MarcelloMastroianni) isHamlet-like in his tormented indecision. Julius Caesarsthemes of politics, power, betrayal and, of course, ruth-lessviolenceresonateddeeplywithCaesarMustDiescastof prisoners,manyofwhomwere serving life sentences.The inmates thought that if they couldmanage to rep-resent, in an artistic context, the darkest part of their be-ings, theycouldcomeclosenotsomuchtoliberationbutto confession,Vittorio explains. Having taken thelmaroundtheworldoverthepastfewmonths, I thinkthisiswhat audienceshave reacted tomost strongly.The prison performance of The Divine Comedy that

so impressed the Tavianis had Dantes original 14th-

century Tuscan translated into contemporary regionaldialect, and the brothers agreed on a similar techniquefor their version of Julius Caesar. To hear Dante actedout inNeapolitanwas disconcerting at rst, but theressomethingparticularlyintimatewhenanactorperformsin the language he ismost comfortable with there ismore of an emotional connection with the material,saysVittorio. OncePaoloandInishedourownadapta-tion, we passed it on to the inmateswho then began totranslate it into their owndialects. The funny thingwasthatwhile the prisonerswereworking on their scripts,other inmates from the same region would peer overtheir shoulders and offer advice on the best way to saysuchand sucha line.

ANTI-NATURALISTIC

CaesarMustDiebeginsincolourwiththeintenseclimac-ticmomentsoftheplay.TheTavianisthenmovebacksixmonths to chronicle the auditions and rehearsals. Thismain segment of the lmemploys a richmonochromepalette with lighting that recalls, among other works,the interiors in PedroCostas 1989 debutOSangue. Wewantedtodrawontheanti-naturalisticqualitiesofblackandwhite, says Vittorio. Colour has become so com-monplace now thatwhen almmaker decides to shootinblack andwhite, it almost seems like an attackon theviewer.Thatbeingsaid, thecentralpremiseofourlmisalready somewhat anti-naturalistic, sowe felt that theuseofmonochromewasparticularly apt.The black andwhite is used to extraordinary effect in

the audition sequence, when, to test their acting skills,eachprisoner is asked togive the sameseriesofpersonaldetails in two contrastingways.While the lightinghereis stylised, cameramovement is straightforward. As theinmatesperform,theTavianisdonotcuttoreactionshotsoftheplaysdirectorFabioCavalliandhiscollaboratorasthey lookon, preferring to focus on the individual audi-tionees,whose expressions switch from trembling painto seething anger. Once the parts have been distributed,amediumclose-upofeachactorfollows, includingacap-tion outlining the sentencehe is serving and the crimescommitted.Theshotsareaccompaniedbyawistful tune

STERNER STUFFVittorio, left, and PaoloTaviani, right, and their castof prisoners, below, includingBrutus (Salvatore Striano,far right)

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ontheharmonicaplayedbyoneoftheactors,34-year-oldliferVincenzoGallo.In terms of the films deployment of music more

generally, the Tavianis use twomajor themes writtenby composersGiulianoTaviani (Vittorios son) andCar-meloTravia. GiulianoandCarmelo startedworkon themusic just as Paolo and I began shooting, saysVittorio.Giuliano then came to visit us on location. At rst, wecould tell thathewas intimidatedby theprisonersonein particular he said had themost terrifying stare. Afterspendingadaywith them,however,he feltmoreat ease.Hedecidedshortlyafter that themainthemefor thelmmeanttoreectthesolitudeandisolationoftheprison-ers would be played on the saxophone.Whenwerstheardit,PaoloandIfelt itwasideal: themelodyhadarealsense of melancholy about it, evoking a sense of loss.As counterpoint, the composers wrote a second, morefull-bodied themewhose pulsating strings heighten thedramaof someof the rehearsal scenes.Other sequences, however, such as Caesars murder,

had no need for musical accompaniment. When weshotCaesarsmurder scene, therewas a lot of tensiononset, both among theprisoners and the crew,Vittorio re-calls. Oncewehad blocked the sequence,we asked ouractors to stand still and concentrate.We asked them togather their thoughts and think aboutwhat could leadto someone to take someone elses life. ThenPaolo and Isuddenlystoppedandlookedateachother: Whatarewesaying?Whoarewe to tell thesemenabout the realitiesof violence andmurder?Vittorio freely admits to wrestling with a troubling

contradiction both during and after filming: As theproductionwent on, we developed a real fondness andaffection for our actors. At the same time, it goes with-out saying thatweabhorred the terrible crimes theyhadcommitted. Its a contradiction I dont thinkwell everreally resolve.Contradictionandambiguityareofcourseattheheart

of all of the Tavianis best work andCaesarMust Die isno exception, right down to thelms nal line. AsNea-politan actor/inmateCosimoRega returns tohis cell, heslowly scans the four walls before turning directly to

camera. Since Ive knownart, he says, this cell has be-comeaprison.TheTavianiswere initiallyunsureaboutincluding the line,which came fromRegahimself (nowanauthoraswellasanactor). It seemedsopowerfulandsuch aperfect summationof thelm thatwewonderedwhether it was too perfect, or evenmaybe too didactic somethingweve always tried to avoid, says Vittorio.In the end,we agreed that itwasmore ambiguous thandidactic it leavesaudienceswithaquestionrather thanan easy answer: does art provide salvation or suffering?On the one hand, you could really feel that Rega hadreached a certain understanding, a certain complexityof thought. But the line is also terribly bittersweet: hereis amanwho, throughhis crimes and the consequencesof these crimes, has always livedunder a cloud.Afterhisencounterwith art, the clouds seem tohave parted. Butin the end, hes still incarcerated andunlikely to ever ex-perience theoutsideworld again.At the Berlin Film Festival in 2012, Caesar Must Die

won the Golden Bear, edging out the likes ofMiguel Gomess Tabu and Ursula Meiers Sister. Intherstpartof almmakers career, prizes arean impor-tant sign of acceptance by audiences and your peers.I think they become less important once a filmmakerbecomesmore established and well known, says Vit-torio. Over thepast 20 years,whenweve sent ourlmsto major festivals, weve always asked for them to bescreened out of competition to leave space for up-and-coming talent. The differencewithCaesarMustDiewasthatwenowhadalmfeaturingmenwhohadbeenfor-gottenby theoutsideworld.Aprize,more than recogni-tion for us, would mean recognition for them. It wasthinkingofour inmateactors thatwedecided topresentthelmincompetition.Vittorio jokes that thepresenceofMikeLeighaspresi-

dent of the jurymayhaveboosted their chances. Wevealways loved Leighs films so we were pleased that hewouldbeheading the jury. Butwhenhe toldus that oneofhisearliestworksasdirectorwasaproductionof JuliusCaesar,we thought, Thats it!

i CaesarMustDie is releasedon 1March,and is reviewedonpage91

Wedeveloped areal fondness forour actors. Atthe same time,we abhorredthe terriblecrimes they hadcommitted. Itsa contradictionwell never resolve