Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE SPIRAL [Toronto International Film Festival - Toronto, Ontario]
The aspect of a deal with the devil is always in retrospect directly related to what the devil wants. In “The Spiral” [Midnight Madness], writer/ director Paulo Strippoli plays with the idea of a mother Anna (Jasmine Trinca) who is living at the inset what seems like a perfect life in Italy and a birthday party for her young daughter. The day is broken up with an accident involving said offspring. The play that Strippoli works on with structure is working on the cause before the effect which is an interesting dynamic but not abundantly clear. He bookends the film with a discussion of Anna with her daughter (now grown up) as a deluge rocks Rome. The religiosity that permeates the film is not oblique in its thoughts but within its imagery. The deal Anna makes with an older Stranger (Valeria Bruni) has a teasing brutality and knowing to it. There is an affection but also a cruelty in play. One deal simply becomes another. Anna is just trying to fix a problem but they become multiplied.
The structure gives the film its steadiness. This is not a gory tale but simply grotesque in the moments it needs to be. The structure moves in four acts and then an epilogue with each family member (the daughter, the brother, the father and then the mother) getting their due time. Each person has their own faults but the Stranger multiplies it. The aspect of the son reflects in Dante of course as does the husband. Anna cannot control what is going on. At one point the imagery of a suitcase and a small coffin looms rather largely. The aspect of the son and what transpires then becomes a transfer of will that never quite quits. The question becomes what is the bigger failure or sacrifice. The imagery of the spiral works from the very beginning and is an overarching detail but yet still quite viable. The director spoke of this briefly in the Q&A but the context that each act becomes shorter like a whirlpool shows a preciseness of thematic that is to be applauded despite a concept that has been done in certain ways before. The structure is classical but intent in its purpose. 84%/B
By Tim Wassberg
