Happy as Lazzaro

Following on the cinematic footsteps of Pasolini, Jarman and Fellini, Italian writer-director Alice Rohrwacher’s latest film focuses on Lazzaro (talented newcomer Adriano Tardiolo), a beautiful peasant whose sweet nature makes people mistake him for simple-minded. He happily does the bidding of anyone in his local village, which is ruled over by the Marchesa (Nicoletta Braschi), and finds an unlikely friend in Marchesa’s petulant son Tancredi, who convinces his hapless ally to help him stage a dramatic incident to secure a ransom.