Berlin International Film Festival | 17 February

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The Competition: Prime Luci Dell'alba (First Light of Dawn)

First Light of Dawn

First Light of Dawnby Lucio Gaudino

The cinema of Francesco Rosi looms large over this daybreak. Lucio Gaudino depicts the wounds the Mafia has inflicted upon the flesh of Italian society as well as the still unbridgeable gulf between north and south.

And yet Gaudino has not made a political thriller, like Rosi. Instead, he portrays the reunion of two brothers whose parents were caught in a deadly ambush. Two opposing temperaments and ways of life collide ­ Edo (Gianmarco Tognazzi) left home to seek his fortune in the industrial north, while his wheelchair-bound brother Saro (Francesco Giuffrida) remains true to his Sicilian roots.

Not least because of the sensitive direction of the actors, the brothers' rapprochement is convincingly depicted.

"Great affection developed between the two," Gaudio recalls. "This facilitated the emotional development of their characters and is reflected in the performance."

Gerhard Midding

Director:
 Lucio Gaudino
Cast:
 Gianmarco Tognazzi, Francesco Giuffrida, Laura Morante
Running time: 86 mins

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