Magical Nights

This film just worked for me on so many levels. On the surface it is a fast paced caper about three aspiring screenwriters who meet in Rome in 1990 and end up being investigated over the death of a washed up film producer at a time when Italian cinema was still in the thrall of a generation of ageing great directors and exhausted by commercial constraints and cynicism. Being a film about screenwriters it is full of verbal fireworks that will leave even the speedier subtitle reader flailing in its wake and being a film about Italian cinema it is full of philosophical asides and in-jokes th a cheerfully flee over my head as I went along for the ride. It is also a film about Italian people that is full of mishap, furious romantic misunderstandings, sharply observed misogyny. Lastly it's a film about life, the freewheeling camerawork follows our heroes fearlessly through cinemas and film sets, cafes, bars, hillside villas, basement apartments and the streets of Rome, it is a dizzying and chaotic ride ( the similarities to Fellini's La Dolce Vita are not accidental) But beneath all the business and sophistication this film is also s plea for a more engaged and observational cinema. It is a film that rewards curiosity and finds its heart.