Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #300: Happy as Lazzaro (2018).

 

On rural Italian state named Inviolata, Lazzaro (Adriano Tardiolo) is a passive and almost simpleminded young farmhand working for the Marchioness Alfonsina De Luna (Nicholetta Braschi), who runs Inviolata in an almost feudal manner. Lazzaro dutifully obeys every order the Marchioness, her son Tancredi (Luca Chikovani) and the estate supervisor Ultimo (Sergi Lopez) give him, but it soon appears this is all an act, for Lazzaro is far more intelligent and cunning than everybody else thinks. After he clandestinely befriends Tancredi, who himself is also more rebellious than he publicly appears, Lazzaro makes a plan with Tancredi to have him kidnapped so he can finally escape his oppressive life and work on the farm and move to the big smoke.

This 2018 Cannes Film Festival entry from writer-director Alice Rohrwacher begins quite charmingly with its depiction of a relatable young protagonist in the Italian countryside and, perhaps surprisingly, it doesn't show Lazzaro and Tancredi entering a same-sex romance (just for the record here I wouldn't have found that offensive, just predictable). But then after Lazzaro's fake kidnapping is staged, I must say I found it to be increasingly very bland and even slightly monotonous. There is literally no humour here despite the narrative and its devices inviting numerous chances for some, particularly during and after Lazzaro leaves the farm, and there's also not enough music IMO to maintain a consistent energy. I realise it's a drama and that was Rohrwacher's intention, but I think this narrative would've ultimately been more vibrant and engaging as a dramedy.

Tardiolo gives a sweet performance - adequately natural, duplicitous and non-judgemental - as the not-so-simple Lazzaro, and Chikovani counters him well as the more openly anarchic Tancredi, but they keep Happy as Lazzaro only barely afloat for me. What could've - and I suspect should've - been a coming-of-age buddy story that critically contrasts the atmospheres of rural and urban Italy instead struck me, by the end, as a dully conventional and overly serious friendship adventure. 6/10.