A tricky film, this: a cunning and perverse thriller that takes the guise of, and works best as, a dark character study. 2002’s THE EMBALMER (L’Imbalsamatore), the fourth feature directed by Italy’s Matteo Garrone (GOMORRAH), was inspired by an actual crime that occurred in Rome, beyond which the script, according to Garrone, was constructed around a simple concept: “How does a man, who isn’t especially rich or good looking, manage to seduce another man? And one who is young and handsome, and not even homosexual?”
Peppino Profeta (Ernesto Mahieux), a middle-aged dwarf who claims to “live in absolute carefreeness” and regularly refers to himself in the third person, makes his living as a taxidermist in the south of Naples. He takes a fancy to Valerio (Valerio Foglia Manzillo), a young himbo Peppino asks to be his assistant. Valerio takes the job, much to the consternation of his family—who believe, correctly, that Peppino has mafia connections. Things get creepy very quickly, with Peppino introducing sex into the relationship in the form of two prostitutes with whom he and Valerio have a foursome.
The relationship grows even darker when Valerio’s family throws him out and he moves in with Peppino. What follows is a road trip taken at the behest of Peppino’s mafia bosses, who seek to utilize his taxidermy expertise. During the trip Valerio, introduced by Peppino as his “nephew,” takes up with the attractive Deborah (Elisabetta Rocchetti), making for an uncomfortable three-way dynamic that only grows more strained after Peppino and Valerio return home. Inevitably Valerio takes a break from Peppino, but he’s not about to be put off so easily, and not above using violence to get what he wants. But of course, not everything is what it seems between him and Valerio.
The performance of the fiftyish Ernesto Mahieux is what makes this film the minor triumph it is. Both menacing and charismatic, it’s one of the great villain roles of recent years, with its major drawback being that it obliterates, Robert de Niro-like, everyone else onscreen—including Valerio Foglia Manzillo, who’s not bad as Valerio but can’t stand up to his co-star.
Directorially, Matteo Garrone favors swirling Brian De Palma-esque camera acrobatics, contained in intricate wide shots without a lot of excess cutaways. He also likes POV shots, including those of animals (denoted by fisheye lenses). Peppino’s diminutive height is noted more often than not by placing the camera at the eye level of the normal sized actors, necessitating tilts or downward pans to Peppino. All this visual bravura, unfortunately, detracts from the suspense, with the film working better as a character study than the Hitchcockian thriller that was intended.
Another problem: the version of THE EMBALMER currently available on region 1 DVD, from First Run Features, is inexcusably poor, with a scratched and faded visual quality that renders many scenes unwatchable. We and the film deserve better.
Vital Statistics
THE EMBLAMER (L’Imbalsamatore)
Fandango
Director: Matteo Garrone
Producer: Domenico Procacci
Screenplay: Ugo Chiti, Massimo Gaudioso, Matteo Garrone
Cinematography: Marco Onorato
Editing: Marco Spoletini
Cast: Ernesto Mahieux, Valerio Foglia Manzillo, Elisabetta Rocchetti, Pietro Biondi, Lina Bernardi, Marcella Granito, Giuseppe Arena, Bernardino Terracciano, Rosario J. Gnolo, Nadia Carlomagno