A central aspect of Art is deception; that is, a willing suspension of disbelief (thank you Mr. Coleridge). We emote over a swirl of oil paints; twenty-four frames per second delivers true-to-life motion; a vinyl plater rotating at 33 1/3 cycles per minute offers realistic sound. But that is technical deception—just how it’s done.
The skill of an artist pulls more than disbelief into the realm of acceptance. Somehow, a mystical element enters the alchemy. That’s when true magic begins.
At its center, a 1977 Italian-French co-production The Forbidden Room (aka Lost Soul) is an outstanding example of the power of cinema, in general, to manipulate deception, both thematically and visually.
The film is set in Venice, a city often used to create an otherworldly ambience (see Don’t Look Now). Tino (Danilo Mattei), a student, arrives as a guest at the faded mansion of his uncle Fabio (Vittorio Gassman) and his wife, Sofia (Catherine Deneuve). Tino is enrolled in painting classes at an art school.
Director Dino Risi was a master of ambience—dust circling down sun rays in a deserted attic; the rustle of pigeon feathers suggesting an unseen presence. The subtle nuances of shifting color, the distant, ghostly echoes—all are foreplay to extreme, horrific circumstances.
A theatrical equivalent to The Forbidden Room is the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Both the film and play revolve around a self-immolating husband and wife and the destructive symbiosis that welds them together, seemingly for eternity. As in the play, it is the presence of an outsider(s) which incites inevitable consequences.
Tino is an Everyman, uncomplicated, bright, curious and energetic. His apparent normality places the Fabio-Sofia relationship in even greater contrast.
Part noir, part gothic horror, within the shadow of giallo, The Forbidden Room addresses the darkness to be found in mental illness, in desperation, in fear.
However, a refreshing redemption does arrive as Tino, alone, travels down a bright, beautiful Venice canal, and quite literally waves goodbye to all that.
#catherinedeneuve #film #theforbiddenroom #lostsoul #italian #french #animpersa #giallo #horror #dinorisi
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