Le conseguenze dell'amore (The Consequences of Love) (2004)

Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Writer:    Paolo Sorrentino
Cast:       Toni Servillo, Olivia Magnani, Adriano Giannini
Language: Italian

Titta di Girolamo (Toni Servillo) is an introverted man living in a hotel for the last ten or so years. He is an insomniac, regular irregular heroin user (its complicated) and there is something dark about his past. He falls for the hotel barmaid which has its own consequences.

This was the first film of Sorrentino that I watched some years back and I loved it then but maybe for different reasons than for loving it again during my second watch. Sorrentino is someone who can make any scene amazingly stylish with some thumping soundtrack and the presence of his protagonist in slow-mo. The film starts off with the line: 'A person who likes to spend a lot of time alone should be very imaginative'. Servillo's characters in both this film and 'The Great Beauty' are people with whom I can identify a lot with. A life in a hotel would suit me fine as well. 

For me the film's title is a deception. The suicidal action taken by him is not necessarily due to him falling in love with the barmaid. It just acted as a trigger for him reacting to his bosses for taking away his freedom and there is great deal of build-up to it. His conversation with his brother sums up how people like me feel when idiots like them try to offer advise. People have different personalities and things that make you happy won't be necessarily what certain others would enjoy. So don't invite people to do things that you would enjoy as a privilege without due consideration about what they would prefer. 

Titta: In the world there's a certain kind of cult, with men and women of all social classes, of all ages and of all religions. It is the insomniacs cult. I'm part of it. For ten years. Those who don't belong to the cult sometimes tend to say: "If you can't sleep, you can read, watch TV, study or do something else". That kind of phrase is deeply annoying to the members of the cult. And the reason is simple. Cause the insomniac has only one obsession: to sleep.

Rating: 4.5/5