OIFF Human Capital: Thriller and Political Commentary

— a review by Paula Treneer —

At the end of director Paolo Virzi’s film we learn the meaning of the film’s title, i.e. the legal definition of human capital as the monetary value assigned to a life in the course of determining monetary damages. Conversely, during the film’s prologue we watch the event, which leads to such a determination when a bicyclist is fatally injured in a hit-and-run by one of the film’s protagonists. Determining which actor is responsible is the plot device, which connects the subsequent three chapters of the film, each told from a different actor’s point of view.

A stylish depiction of the lives of modern Italy’s upper class as well as a gently gloved political satire, Human Capital features strong performances from one of its Franco-Italian leading ladies, Valerie Bruni-Tedeschi, whose depiction of a psychologically fragile former actress married to an Italian hedge fund tycoon is convincing, while her husband, played by Fabrizio Gifuni, is appropriately smooth, insensitive and yet occasionally somewhat sympathetic. Fabrizio Bentivoglio’s performance as the bumbling real estate agent whose ambitions to improve his financial fortunes leads in a rather predictable direction is appropriately grating, combining a garrulous enthusiasm with a bad 60’s hairstyle. His wife Roberta, played by Valeria Golino, is the most sympathetic character in the film while his daughter Serena (Matilde Gioli, an excellent performance), caught up in the tale’s pursuit of the guilty suspect, is less damaged by the final outcome than the adults in this psychodrama.

Adapted from a book set in Connecticut but transposed to Italy’s Brianza region, the production design is superb, from the wintry photography to the “Architect’s Digest” – quality depiction of the magnate’s stunning neoclassical villa. While the characters seem a bit stereotypical in certain respects, the film is nevertheless worth a serious look for its successful adaptation of the cinematic cliché of interweaving stories, its subtle social commentary, and for its excellent performances.