Sydney Film Festival Review - Marcello mio

 

“Call me Marcello.”

Retrospective, meta and enigmatic, Marcello mio is a deeply personal, albeit nepotistic farce, that features Chiara Mastroianni playing her own self as she assumes the identity of her father Marcello and embarks on a journey of self-discovery and wrestles with legacy, that wears thin by its conclusion despite a few memorable moments. 

Discussion Points:

I don’t know if this conceit really earns a full feature length approach. Feels like it would’ve worked better as a short film than a two hour long comedy that struggles to maintain momentum and interest. Filled with a cast all playing fictionalised versions of themselves, the film really leans into a meta narrative but I just never found engaging. Chiara Mastroianni gives a great performance, both as herself, and as herself embodying her late father. But again the joke wears thin quickly, and the film really drags at moments. I’m sure it was a lot of fun for the cast, and cathartic for Chiara, but I was left fairly underwhelmed. I did appreciate the multilingual screenplay, and the film looks great, and does have some solid laughs, but they are few and far between. Least fav of the festival sadly.