INDEX
The Impact of the Film’s “What-Could-Have-Been Future”
The intricacies and conflicts of various points of view. The bold repetition of the “if” that Moro survives without being murdered. A rampant variety of narrative possibilities. A meta-declaration of the film being a film. Through these attempts, Bellocchio is not merely trying to present a “counterfactual,” nor is he trying to nihilistically recapitulate the powerlessness of cinema, which has no choice but to remain a fictional entity to any extent.
Rather, he is sincerely presenting an awareness of the inevitable power inherent in the act of historical narration (we may call this “politics”) through a single film. And by doing so, I would like to think that the film presents, with exceptional power, the question of what kind of significance the act of confronting a history that “could have been” has for contemporary audiences, who are suffering from the same oppression and anxiety as the characters in this film.
In his book “Terror and Cinema: Violence as Spectacle” (Chuko Shinsho, 2015), film historian and critic Inuhiko Yomota, referring to Bellocchio’s “Yoru yo, konnichiwa,” describes the “if” in the film as follows.
(I]n the film, Moro’s return to life, which could not have happened in reality, is depicted on the screen. This is not to distort the facts, but to interrupt the flow of factual reporting that has been repeated so many times before, and in that state of suspension, to move toward a higher level of historical awareness.
What is required here is not to view history as a static set of fixed facts, but rather to reconsider it as a bundle of latent forces that conceals countless possible turning points. In the process of this attempt, facts will be supplemented by the imaginary, and the essence of the event will emerge before us for the first time.
(p.167-168 in the above-mentioned book)
‘Exterior Night’ uses its length to present “countless divergent points of view” with various perspectives, and to depict a history that could have been. It is not just an irresponsible presentation of “ifs,” nor does it lead to a conspiracy theory of any kind. Conspiracy theorists in general are backwards realists, who are crashing toward a single alternative “truth”.
Cinema is not, nor should it be for the sake of cinema, converging on a univocal interpretation of the facts. Film has the ability to represent itself as a possible image of reality, to blossom the contingency inherent in that reality, and to shift a “possible” future into a “possible” future. Bellocchio, a great filmmaker, knows that such an act can soothe the trauma of the Italian community, heal the people, and reconstitute their identity.
Exterior Night
Starting August 9, 2024 (Friday), ‘Exterior Night’ will be shown at Bunkamura Le Cinema in Shibuya Miyashita and other theaters nationwide.
Director, Original Concept, and Screenplay: Marco Bellocchio
Original Concept: Giovanni Bianconi, Nicola Lusuardi
Original Concept and Screenplay: Stefano Bises
Screenplay: Ludovica Rampoldi, Davide Serino
Starring: Fabrizio Gifuni, Margherita Buy, Toni Servillo, Fausto Russo Alesi, Daniela Mazzacane
Distribution: Zazi Films
©2022 The Apartment – Kavac Film – Arte France. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.zaziefilms.com/yorusoto
