The Embalmer (2002)

Am I Missing Something?

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Two scenarios. Scenario One: A beautiful man meets another gorgeous hunk, finds that besides having a lot in common the hunk is down on his luck. The man, out of the kindness of his heart and more than a little chemistry, gives the hunk a job as his assistant. When the hunk is evicted, the man even lets him move into his home. Chemistry between the two grow until one day, during an intense sexual encounter with two girls, the pair cross a line into a burdening relationship when the man finds himself interacting with the hunk sexually. A lovely romance that makes your heart melt. Scenario Two: A short, toadish looking man in his 50s meets a gorgeous hunk, finds that besides having a lot in common, the hunk is down on his luck. The man, out of the kindness of his heart and more than a little chemistry with the hunk, gives him a job as his assistant. When the hunk is evicted, the man even lets him move into his home. Chemistry between the two grow until one day, during an intense sexual encounter with two girls, the older man crosses a line and dares to attempt the hunk sexually. A stalker story that makes you fear ugly people who might think you are attractive. The difference: Physical appearance, genetics, and age. Offensive and repugnant.

Matteo Garrone's deeply morbid subjective reflection from Italy is an insightful musing of two characters, and then a third which works as an agitator. The short man finds the tall man at the zoo, where he is watching a vulture. The short guy, named Peppino, is a sweet talker. He's about 50, balding, under 5 feet tall. The tall guy, named Valerio, is a head turner, about 20, attractive, over 6 feet tall. As they struggle to recall where they've met before, the perspective periodically shifts from the humans to the vulture, a bird that survives by detecting dead meat. The picture is mangled, the sound is dampened, and we get an inverted look of the bird blinking its eyes. Valerio says animals are his strongest interest. Funny, says Peppino, they're also his. He is a taxidermist.Peppino, with a light manner and a genial grin, is a beast of prey who likes to entice young men with his money and favors. Valerio, who is told extraordinary things about his Adonis-like looks, is not very smart, and likes to be charmed. Peppino works by artifice, taking Valerio to clubs and hiring hookers for parties; the two friends end up in bed with the girls, and Valerio doesn't see that for Peppino, the girls are the snare and he is the sitting duck.The Embalmer is adept at camouflaging its real essence and rattling us with the shifts of the plot. Among the movie's charades are not all overstated, but eerily implicit. Does Peppino see himself as a homosexual, or as a philanderer who likes good buddies and is open-minded in bed? Does Valerio know Peppino wants him? Does Valerio favor Peppino's money or Deborah's abundant sexual skill? Is Valerio totally retarded? Twice he infuriates Deborah by standing her up; he continues go along with Peppino's insistence upon just one more time. Is it a defect or an advantage of the film that we don't always know what occurs? Another intended question I think, as we ponder over Valerio, a babe in the woods who, when he's not with the one he loves, loves the one he's with, if he loves at all.This incredibly unsettling and implacable experience takes place largely in Italian beach towns, but in a gray season, against chilled, steeled skies. The sea is nonetheless far away and dejected, and Garrone's images bleed the life out of some scenes. The music is a sobbing, deeply haunting jazz abstraction. This is not a comedy or a sexploitation pic, but a prurient matter concerning two obsessed pursuants and their prey, whose physicality may have made life such a breeze for him that he never got the dexterity to live it.It may sound absurd that a balding old midget could seduce an apparently heterosexual young Apollo out of the arms of an insatiable woman, but after Deborah checks Peppino out, she knows she has to take him seriously. What the short man wants, he goes after with skill, guile…and desperate longing. And it's compelling to watch him maneuver.

The writing team of Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, and Ugo Chiti won a David (Italian Oscar) for their screenplay, just as they would this year for the multi-award winning film Gomorra.Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux) is an aging, somewhat creep, short person, who finds Valerio (Valerio Foglia Manzillo) and is instantly attracted to him. He offers him a job in his taxidermy shop.When Valerio meets Deborah (Elisabetta Rocchetti), complications develop. Peppino has been bringing home a string of prostitutes to keep Viterio happy until he manages to land him.There becomes a duel between Peppino and Deborah for the body of Valerio. Rocchetti (Do You Like Hitchcock?) is sensuous, and determined - perfect for the role. Peppino is the star, however, and dominates every scene he is in.You are always wondering who will win, and the odds have to go to Peppino because of his mob connections.The film takes place at a lot of resort areas and is captivating.

From beginning to end, the artful use of cinematography is exact. The director conveys the emotion through the use of scenery, "natural" lighting, or lack thereof, and the soundtrack.The production team and cast did a great job of taking words on paper and creating an original, thought evoking film that has no real category. A sort of twisted love story with a rather unexpected ending, where you are compelled to see what happens next by a feeling of expectation and suspense, not knowing when some major event will happen and actually being surprised when they do.The actors do a great job of conveying the emotions, thoughts, and tensions in every scene, especially Ernesto Mahieux and Valerio Foglia Manzillo.Unlike many subtitled films, whoever performed the English translation seems to have converted the Italian flawlessly- bravo to them.A film that is not likely to see wide distribution, and comes across as not trying to do so. More emphasis seems to be on the personal connection with each viewer, who then takes an interest in the storyline and anxiously awaits the rest of the story.Possibly a gateway film for those interested in Film Noire or who simply want to take a break from the usual with a bit "darker" film- worth the viewing charge.