Palio (18.)
Directed by Cosima Spender. 91 mins. Available digitally on Nov 6th, DVD on 9th.
From the people that inspired the chariot spectacle in Ben Hur, comes a modern day horse race that is so brutal, callous and drenched in corruption and manipulation that it is like a hooved Rollerball run by the Borgias. Twice every summer, in July and August, the edges of the Piazza del Campo in Siena, that beautiful square just down the alley from the cathedral, are covered in sand and one of Italy’s great tourist attractions becomes a race course. Each horse and jockey rides for the glory of one of the 17 competing Contrades (regions/ districts) of Siena which have names like Unicorn, She-wolf, Goose, Tower and Tortoise. The rivalries are bitter and date back centuries while the machinations of the events are open to all kinds of manipulation and skulduggery.
Spender’s beautifully shot film is a tales of youth trying to overcome the old order. Gigi Bruschelli, who has the terse squint of a fading Australian Rugby Union international, has won 13 Palios and seems to have the game sewn up. He trains up all the other jockeys and has considerable influence over those in charge of the event. Will any of his young apprentices have the gall or the balls to try and best the master?
It’s a marvellous film, as long as you have little regard for the suffering of animals – the corners are taken at right angles and the slightest mistake can send gee gee and jockey smashing into the wall.
And it wouldn’t be nearly as compelling if it wasn’t in Italy. I don’t think any nation on this earth is quite so uniformly committed to the upholding of their national stereotype, and bless them you that. A large part of that national stereotype is, of course, a certain propensity for bluster and hyperbole and it is this characteristic that makes the film so watchable. Though Bruschelli is relative taciturn, everybody else is talking and gesticulation up a storm. The stars of the films are the old jockeys and grizzled Palio aficionados who are keen to denigrate anything and everything with preposterous fury. It doesn’t matter that the actual race lasts just 90 seconds, the talking, analysis and conniving around it, seems to be yearlong. If you think the balance between action and chat is lopsided on ITV’s Champions League highlights shows, it is nothing compared to this.
In fact there is so much talk in this film, you do begin to wonder what exactly lies behind it. They all talk about how much corruption and manipulation there is, but without ever quite pinpointing how it is done and what it achieves. Up to a point that’s understandable: after all it is corruption and manipulation, you can’t go around spelling it out.
The other big topic is how the race can be fixed or the result influenced. Before the race there is a draw for starting positions. The last rider drawn is the ride-in horse: it’s a bum draw as you have the worst starting position but it does give you some sway because you effectively decide when the race starts. So right before the off, the other jockeys openly try to bribe him for his help. It is all very serious yet, though we see him clearly doing Bruschelli's bidding, once the race starts it all looks like a frantic, crazy free for all. You may begin to entertain the notion that the whole event has been talked up into something grandiose to disguise the fact that it is a basically just a bunch of nags riding around for a minute and half, albeit against a very scenic backdrop.
Directed by Cosima Spender. 91 mins. Available digitally on Nov 6th, DVD on 9th.
From the people that inspired the chariot spectacle in Ben Hur, comes a modern day horse race that is so brutal, callous and drenched in corruption and manipulation that it is like a hooved Rollerball run by the Borgias. Twice every summer, in July and August, the edges of the Piazza del Campo in Siena, that beautiful square just down the alley from the cathedral, are covered in sand and one of Italy’s great tourist attractions becomes a race course. Each horse and jockey rides for the glory of one of the 17 competing Contrades (regions/ districts) of Siena which have names like Unicorn, She-wolf, Goose, Tower and Tortoise. The rivalries are bitter and date back centuries while the machinations of the events are open to all kinds of manipulation and skulduggery.
Spender’s beautifully shot film is a tales of youth trying to overcome the old order. Gigi Bruschelli, who has the terse squint of a fading Australian Rugby Union international, has won 13 Palios and seems to have the game sewn up. He trains up all the other jockeys and has considerable influence over those in charge of the event. Will any of his young apprentices have the gall or the balls to try and best the master?
It’s a marvellous film, as long as you have little regard for the suffering of animals – the corners are taken at right angles and the slightest mistake can send gee gee and jockey smashing into the wall.
And it wouldn’t be nearly as compelling if it wasn’t in Italy. I don’t think any nation on this earth is quite so uniformly committed to the upholding of their national stereotype, and bless them you that. A large part of that national stereotype is, of course, a certain propensity for bluster and hyperbole and it is this characteristic that makes the film so watchable. Though Bruschelli is relative taciturn, everybody else is talking and gesticulation up a storm. The stars of the films are the old jockeys and grizzled Palio aficionados who are keen to denigrate anything and everything with preposterous fury. It doesn’t matter that the actual race lasts just 90 seconds, the talking, analysis and conniving around it, seems to be yearlong. If you think the balance between action and chat is lopsided on ITV’s Champions League highlights shows, it is nothing compared to this.
In fact there is so much talk in this film, you do begin to wonder what exactly lies behind it. They all talk about how much corruption and manipulation there is, but without ever quite pinpointing how it is done and what it achieves. Up to a point that’s understandable: after all it is corruption and manipulation, you can’t go around spelling it out.
The other big topic is how the race can be fixed or the result influenced. Before the race there is a draw for starting positions. The last rider drawn is the ride-in horse: it’s a bum draw as you have the worst starting position but it does give you some sway because you effectively decide when the race starts. So right before the off, the other jockeys openly try to bribe him for his help. It is all very serious yet, though we see him clearly doing Bruschelli's bidding, once the race starts it all looks like a frantic, crazy free for all. You may begin to entertain the notion that the whole event has been talked up into something grandiose to disguise the fact that it is a basically just a bunch of nags riding around for a minute and half, albeit against a very scenic backdrop.
