Luna E Laltra

 ((ITALIAN))

By GODFREY CHESHIRE

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Produced by Ernesto di Sarro. Directed by Maurizio Nichetti. Screenplay, Nichetti, Nello Correale, Laura Fischetto, Stefano Albe.
 

That, at least, is the psychological notion that comes into play when a traveling circus arrives in town. The outfits conjurer, Igor, has a magic lantern, which given an odd combination of circumstances (and some very adroit special effects), frees Lunas shadow self, a cartoonlike vamp who quickly begins to wreak havoc on her reputation as a long-suffering Goody Two Shoes. While this device is much in line with Nichettis previous fondness for cinematically reflexive plot elements, which in turn obviously derives from similar gags in films by the likes of Keaton and Chaplin, its use here aims less at high concept than at broad comedy. And for the most part, Nichetti proves adroit at targeting the obvious laughs and plot twists and at getting them. The main downside, a relatively minor one, is that the films rapid-clip pacing exhausts the premise (and, perhaps, some viewers) well before the comedic climax. Pic has a decided asset in the warm, sympathetic and skilled perf of Forte as the divided schoolmarm. Nichettis direction is generally expert in matters of comic timing, ensemble playing and providing a bright, appealing visual scheme; it suffers only in moments where the plot machinations come to feel overly mechanical. Tech credits are uniformly excellent. Godfrey Cheshire

Camera (color), Luca Bigazzi; editor, Rita Rossi; music, Carlo Siliotto; sound, Amadeo Casati. Reviewed at Montreal Film Festival, Aug. 31, 1996. (Also in Toronto Film Festival.) Running time: 92 MIN.
 

With: Iaia Forte (Luna), Aurelio Fierro, Luigi Burruano, Ivano Marescotti, Maurizio Nichetti, Eraldo Turra, Luciano Manzalini. A doppelganger comedy suffused with a nostalgic view of Italy a generation ago, Luna e LAltra is as spunky and silly as its punning title would suggest. Featuring Maurizio Nichetti as helmer, coscripter and actor, the polished, broadly accessible farce may not have quite the crossover power of his Icicle Thief, but it should score handily in sites already won over by the comic triplethreat. Starting with a school-yard ceremony memorializing a heroic casualty of a bomb left over from World War II, tale flashes back to the immediate postwar period to show how the calamity occurred. Luna (Iaia Forte), a sweet-natured if somewhat ditzy teacher at the school, is the butt of student pranks and faculty high-handedness. She also is the object of a secret and long unrequited crush on the part of Angelo (Nichetti), the schools bumbling custodian. Dutiful at home as much as at work, Luna serves as an uncomplaining sounding board for the grumblings of her father, a displaced Neapolitan widower who dislikes life in the urban north. Such constant meekness and self-effacement must breed its opposite in a gal.