The Vancouver Art Gallery has had an exhibition on all through the summer called “Of Heaven and Earth: 500 Years of Italian Paintings“. That exhibit had a lot to do with me going to see “Wondrous Boccaccio”. If you haven’t yet made the trip out to the gallery I suggest you run as fast as you can. The collection is not as spectacular as the paintings you would actually see in Italy but it does encompass all the major tropes and styles of 14th century Italian art.
The film is set in that very rustic, primary colour-drenched world of the Italian Renaissance. It is based on Giovanni Boccaccio’s collection of stories called “The Decameron”. Ten wealthy youths from Florence flee the city to a grand house in the countryside to escape the plague. They entertain themselves by telling stories.
“Wondrous Boccaccio” has a lot going on. There is a lot of cheese here. Like a whole wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano. But is that not delicious, though? I thoroughly enjoyed the OTT dramatic asides and the histrionics. It was like watching a period soap opera. Five stories are told in the film. Mostly about love. The era is recreated so beautifully and so believably that you find yourself forgiving the cheesiness. The visuals of the Italian countryside, a lone tree with all its fruit on the ground, the wind waving in the grass. These are just some of the stunning images that stayed with me after the screening. 14th century stone buildings and beautiful high-ceilinged interiors help authenticate the era. The costumes left my eyes in pure ecstasy. The women look like they have walked straight out of Boticelli paintings. The great Raphael’s colour palate leaps out of the screen at any given moment. Even a blue sky that is the exact hue of religious paintings of the era is shown. Every frame is arranged to imitate paintings from the time. When the young men and women sit at a long table to break bread, the atmosphere is so The Last Supper it is uncanny.
I loved the visuals in this movie so much that they took my breath away. The framing of every scene is a Renaissance painting. The tunics donned by the women are in true staple Renaissance colours: mustard yellow, marsala red, coral, a blue grey, an olive green, a matte violet. There is a scene where the women take off their tunics and wade into a still lake, in long white tunics that they were wearing underneath. It is such an ethereal and magical scene.
Watching “Wondrous Boccaccio” was like watching a pastiche of Renaissance paintings come alive and move and walk and dance. The stories were simplistic but not groundbreaking. It’s all predictable stuff really when it comes to the plot. The acting too is nothing out of the blue. The directors take the cake by gathering the entire crew’s efforts together and recreating the period atmosphere to the tee. If you go in with an open mind, and especially after visiting “Of Heaven And Earth”, I guarantee you will have a aesthetically satisfying time.
For VIFF schedules and tickets visit the VIFF Official Website.
-Prachi Kamble