34 | Sight&Sound | March 2013

After years of neglect by UKdistributors,

the Taviani brothers are back, well into their
eighties, with their grittiest lmyet, the Golden
Bear-winning Caesar Must Die, a rawslab
of Shakespeare lmed in a Roman prison
By Pasquale Iannone
The Taviani brothers often tell the storyof the epiphanic
moment when they decided to become filmmakers.
Vittorio (born1929) and Paolo (born1931) were still in
theirteenswhentheydriftedintoahalf-emptyscreening
of Rossellinis Pais (1946) intheir Tuscanhometownof
SanMiniato. Completelyoverwhelmedbytheraw, clear-
eyed power of Rossellinis images, they made the joint
decisionthereandthentopursueacareerinlmmaking.
Shortlyafterwards, thebrothersjoinedforceswithyoung
communist (and former partisan) Valentino Orsini to
direct aseries of experimental plays: energetic fusions of
commedia dellarte, Brecht and (Rossellinian) neoreal-
ism. In one production, they explored the history of
Livornesedockworkers, invitingthedockersthemselves
totalkabout their lives under fascismandtheir involve-
ment withtheresistancemovement. Whiletheseexperi-
ences were undoubtedly valuable, it was clear that for
Orsini and the Tavianis, the theatre was a stop-gap a
way of testing out ideas and techniques before making
the leaptocinema.
Under the guidance of writer and theorist Cesare Za-
vattini, thetrioshot their rst documentarySanMiniato,
July 1944 (1954) before making the decisive move south
toRomeinthemid-1950s. There, as well as makingafur-
therninedocumentaries, theygainedexperienceasassis-
tant directors and screenwriters before mounting their
feature debut A Man for Burning (Un uomo da bruciare)
in1962. Their collaborationwithOrsini having runits
course by the mid-1960s, the Tavianis soonestablished
themselvesasimportant guresof post-neorealist Italian
cinema. Theirdeeplypersonal, politicallyengagedworks
suchas The Subversives (I sovversivi, 1967), Under the Sign
of Scorpio (Sotto il segno dello scorpione, 1968), Allonsanfn
(1974) andthe Palme dOr-winning Padre Padrone (1977)
grappled with neorealism while departing sig-
nicantly fromit. (Like other lmmakers of their
HONOUR
MEN
THEYVEALLGOT
ITINFORME
Caesar (Giovanni Arcuri,
centre) in the convict
production of Julius Caesar
lmed inCaesar Must Die
March 2013 | Sight&Sound | 35
36 | Sight&Sound | March 2013
CAESAR MUST DIE TAVIANI BROTHERS
generation, thebrothers wereleft disillusionedby
its slide into insipid naturalismafter its post-war
heyday.) WhenPaoloandI areaskedabout post-warItal-
iancinema,saysVittorio, now83, thebrotherwhotakes
oninterviewduties, we always use the metaphor of the
tree: the roots deepundergroundare Rossellini, Visconti
and De Sica while the branches above are directors like
us, Bertolucci, Scola, Ferreri andothers. Althoughwe all
sproutedoff indifferent directions, the roots remained.
Thebrothershavegonebacktotheirroots(boththeat-
rical and lmic) for Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire).
Their 17thpicture sees real-life inmates stage a version
of Shakespeares Julius Caesar withinthewalls of Romes
Rebibbia prison. The filmcomes after 2007s The Lark
Farm(La masseria delle allodole), a historical epic chroni-
clingtheArmeniangenocideof 1915. Despiteboastinga
high-proleinternational cast (PazVega, AngelaMolina,
Tchky Karyo), the lmwas not released theatrically in
the UK, a fate shared by most of the Tavianis output of
the past twodecades. As a project, The Lark Farmwas re-
allyclosetoourheartsandweregladthat theArmenians
themselves were pleased with it, Vittorio recalls. We
even received a prize fromtheir government for high-
lightingthis tragic episode intheir history.
Looking backover the brothers body of work, its ap-
parent that theyve often followed up the exertions of
anepic productionwithlms ona muchsmaller scale
(PadrePadroneafterAllonsanfn, forinstance), but Vittorio
insists this is unintentional: WithCaesar Must Die, we
didnt set out to make a low-budget lm it just turned
out that way. But I have tosaythat duringlming, Paolo
andI felt wewereworkingwiththesamesimplicityand
spontaneityof our earlyfeatures.
The initial idea for the lmcame when the brothers
were invited to a prisoninmates productionof Dantes
The Divine Comedy. It affected us so deeply that we
both agreed we had to make a film about it, Vittorio
explains. Most of our projects happen that way: were
either moved by something or we are confronted with
a situation completely alien to us that we want to ex-
plore. Whendeciding ona piece for the inmates to per-
form, we thought that it hadto be a play withanItalian
setting one whichloomed large inthe popular imagi-
nation. It alsohadtobe a piece whichthe inmates could
connect with.
The brothers began reading Shakespeare at a young
age and, while they have never attempted a full adapta-
tion, the Bard has beena constant source of inspiration.
InAMan for Burning, for instance, they depict Salvatore
Carnevale the union-leader protagonist played by
Gian Maria Volont as a latter-day Coriolanus, while
Allonsanfns Fulvio Imbriani (Marcello Mastroianni) is
Hamlet-like inhis tormented indecision. Julius Caesars
themes of politics, power, betrayal and, of course, ruth-
lessviolenceresonateddeeplywithCaesarMust Diescast
of prisoners, manyof whomwere servinglife sentences.
The inmates thought that if they could manage to rep-
resent, inanartistic context, the darkest part of their be-
ings, theycouldcomeclosenot somuchtoliberationbut
toconfession, Vittorioexplains. Having takenthe lm
aroundtheworldoverthepast fewmonths, I thinkthisis
what audiences have reactedtomost strongly.
The prison performance of The Divine Comedy that
so impressed the Tavianis had Dantes original 14th-
century Tuscantranslated into contemporary regional
dialect, and the brothers agreed on a similar technique
for their version of Julius Caesar. To hear Dante acted
out inNeapolitanwas disconcerting at rst, but theres
somethingparticularlyintimatewhenanactorperforms
in the language he is most comfortable with there is
more of an emotional connection with the material,
says Vittorio. OncePaoloandI nishedour ownadapta-
tion, we passed it onto the inmates who thenbeganto
translate it intotheir owndialects. The funny thing was
that while the prisoners were working ontheir scripts,
other inmates from the same region would peer over
their shoulders and offer advice on the best way to say
suchandsuchaline.
ANTI-NATURALISTIC
CaesarMust Diebeginsincolourwiththeintenseclimac-
ticmomentsof theplay. TheTavianisthenmovebacksix
months to chronicle the auditions and rehearsals. This
mainsegment of the lmemploys a richmonochrome
palette with lighting that recalls, among other works,
the interiors inPedro Costas 1989 debut OSangue. We
wantedtodrawontheanti-naturalisticqualitiesof black
and white, says Vittorio. Colour has become so com-
monplace nowthat whena lmmaker decides to shoot
inblackandwhite, it almost seems like anattackonthe
viewer. That beingsaid, thecentral premiseof our lmis
already somewhat anti-naturalistic, so we felt that the
use of monochrome was particularlyapt.
The blackandwhite is usedtoextraordinary effect in
the audition sequence, when, to test their acting skills,
eachprisoner is askedtogivethesameseries of personal
details intwocontrasting ways. While the lighting here
is stylised, camera movement is straightforward. As the
inmatesperform, theTavianisdonotcuttoreactionshots
of theplaysdirectorFabioCavalli andhiscollaboratoras
they lookon, preferring tofocus onthe individual audi-
tionees, whose expressions switchfromtrembling pain
to seething anger. Once the parts have beendistributed,
amediumclose-upof eachactorfollows, includingacap-
tionoutlining the sentence he is serving andthe crimes
committed. Theshotsareaccompaniedbyawistful tune
STERNERSTUFF
Vittorio, left, and Paolo
Taviani, right, and their cast
of prisoners, below, including
Brutus (Salvatore Striano,
far right)
G
E
T
T
Y
I
M
A
G
E
S
(
1
)
March 2013 | Sight&Sound | 37
ontheharmonicaplayedbyoneof theactors, 34-year-old
lifer VincenzoGallo.
In terms of the films deployment of music more
generally, the Tavianis use two major themes written
by composers Giuliano Taviani (Vittorios son) andCar-
meloTravia. GiulianoandCarmelostartedworkonthe
music just as Paolo and I beganshooting, says Vittorio.
Giuliano thencame to visit us onlocation. At rst, we
couldtell that hewas intimidatedbytheprisoners one
inparticular he said had the most terrifying stare. After
spendingadaywiththem, however, hefelt moreat ease.
Hedecidedshortlyafter that themainthemefor thelm
meant toreect thesolitudeandisolationof theprison-
ers wouldbe playedonthe saxophone. Whenwe rst
heardit, PaoloandI felt it wasideal: themelodyhadareal
sense of melancholy about it, evoking a sense of loss.
As counterpoint, the composers wrote a second, more
full-bodiedtheme whose pulsating strings heightenthe
dramaof some of the rehearsal scenes.
Other sequences, however, such as Caesars murder,
had no need for musical accompaniment. When we
shot Caesars murder scene, there was a lot of tensionon
set, bothamong the prisoners andthe crew, Vittoriore-
calls. Once we hadblockedthe sequence, we askedour
actors to stand still and concentrate. We asked themto
gather their thoughts and think about what could lead
tosomeone totake someone elses life. ThenPaoloandI
suddenlystoppedandlookedat eachother: What arewe
saying? Whoare we totell these menabout the realities
of violence andmurder?
Vittorio freely admits to wrestling with a troubling
contradiction both during and after filming: As the
productionwent on, we developed a real fondness and
affection for our actors. At the same time, it goes with-
out sayingthat weabhorredtheterriblecrimes theyhad
committed. Its a contradiction I dont think well ever
reallyresolve.
Contradictionandambiguityareof courseat theheart
of all of the Tavianis best work and Caesar Must Die is
noexception, right downtothe lms nal line. As Nea-
politanactor/inmate CosimoRega returns tohis cell, he
slowly scans the four walls before turning directly to
camera. Since Ive knownart, he says, this cell has be-
comeaprison. TheTavianis wereinitiallyunsureabout
including the line, whichcame fromRega himself (now
anauthoraswell asanactor). It seemedsopowerful and
sucha perfect summationof the lmthat we wondered
whether it was too perfect, or even maybe too didactic
something weve always tried to avoid, says Vittorio.
Inthe end, we agreedthat it was more ambiguous than
didacticit leaves audiences withaquestionrather than
aneasy answer: does art provide salvationor suffering?
On the one hand, you could really feel that Rega had
reached a certain understanding, a certain complexity
of thought. But the line is also terribly bittersweet: here
is a manwho, throughhis crimes andthe consequences
of these crimes, has always livedunder a cloud. After his
encounter withart, the clouds seemto have parted. But
inthe end, hes still incarceratedandunlikelytoever ex-
perience the outside worldagain.
At the Berlin Film Festival in 2012, Caesar Must Die
won the Golden Bear, edging out the likes of
Miguel Gomess Tabu and Ursula Meiers Sister. In
therst part of almmakers career, prizes areanimpor-
tant sign of acceptance by audiences and your peers.
I think they become less important once a filmmaker
becomes more established and well known, says Vit-
torio. Over the past 20 years, whenweve sent our lms
to major festivals, weve always asked for them to be
screened out of competition to leave space for up-and-
coming talent. The difference withCaesar Must Die was
that wenowhadalmfeaturingmenwhohadbeenfor-
gottenbythe outside world. Aprize, more thanrecogni-
tion for us, would mean recognition for them. It was
thinkingof our inmateactors that wedecidedtopresent
the lmincompetition.
Vittoriojokes that thepresenceof MikeLeighas presi-
dent of the jurymayhave boostedtheir chances. Weve
always loved Leighs films so we were pleased that he
wouldbe heading the jury. But whenhe toldus that one
of hisearliest worksasdirector wasaproductionof Julius
Caesar, we thought, Thats it!
i
Caesar Must Die is releasedon1 March,
andis reviewedonpage 91
We developed a
real fondness for
our actors. At
the same time,
we abhorred
the terrible
crimes they had
committed. Its
a contradiction
well never resolve