Traveling Companion
((Compagna Di Viaggio))
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Cosimo ... Michel Piccoli Cora ... Asia Argento Pepe ... Lino Capolicchio Ada ... Silvia Cohen Giulio ... Max Malatesta An intense but rather slow and cerebral exploration of two lives of solitude that intersect, "Traveling Companion," Peter Del Monte's first film in six years, is a coherent continuation of his previous work. But while some may admire its minimalist purity, others will be distanced by its refusal to take a promising dramatic starting point in a more dynamic direction. Pic looks unlikely to find many commercial outlets beyond the festival circuit.
Entrusted by the professor's daughter Ada (Silvia Cohen) to follow the old man during his daily walks around the city, Cora begins tailing him at a distance but gradually establishes closer contact.
As the improbable duo travel across the countryside, Cora slowly reveals a softer side. Initially alarmed by Cosimo's apparent aimlessness, she alerts Ada, who has him brought in by cops. But he sets off again, and, eventually, Cora gives in to the professor's whims. Responding to an affinity between them, she not only assists in his flight but reconsiders her own life.
Eliminating all but the bare essentials, the script emphasizes its points about loneliness and the need for contact in an emotional desert. This is conveyed not just through the principal characters but also through Ada and her husband (Lino Capolicchio), who have their own unease to contend with.
With a more resourceful central performance, this might have been enough to sustain the film. But while Argento easily embodies the tough, unsentimental loner of the opening reels, she is unsuccessful in bringing depth to her character later on. Piccoli's sparsely worded role is both sympathetic and affecting, supplying welcome moments of minor-key humor.
Technically, the film is solid but undistinguished, apart from Dario Lucantoni's score, which begins as a lazy tango theme when the characters first take to the streets, adopting more melancholy tones later on.
Camera (color), Giuseppe Lanci; editor, Simona Paggi; music, Dario Lucantoni; art direction, Mario Rossetti; costume design, Paola Marchesin; sound (Dolby SR), Mario Iaquone; assistant director, Eugenio Masciari. Reviewed at Anica screening room, Rome, April 23, 1996. (In Cannes Film Festival -- Un Certain Regard.) Running time: 106 min.
With uncluttered direction and less of the ponderously literary dialogue of his previous films, Del Monte creates a situation rich in dramatic possibilities. But when Cosimo boards a train, following an itinerary that haphazardly jumps from one central Italian town to the next, and Cora is forced to tag along, the situation fails to bear the promised fruits.
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