Broadcast at the opening of the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and at the CinéAlma Festival in Carros, thanks to the tireless activity of its creator Charles Scibetta, it confirms Marco Bellocchio’s place among the great masters of Italian cinema.
“Sweet Dreams,” inspired by a book by Massimo Gramellini (a renowned journalist for La Stampa), is a beautiful film, characterized by a clear simplicity, centered around an intimate tragedy.
It’s the tragedy experienced by Massimo, a 9-year-old boy, who has a very tender and close relationship with his mother.
Turin, 1969: This mother dies one night, under unclear circumstances. At least for the child, Massimo, who is shielded from the truth in various ways. First, he is told that she is in the hospital, then that she has gone to Heaven.
A few days later, his father takes him to a priest who explains that she is now in Heaven. Massimo “refuses” this sudden disappearance, doesn’t really accept all these versions, questions, and rebels.
He is a boy (Nicolò Cabras, remarkable) with a dark and stubborn gaze, for whom the loss of his mother is like a haunting memory.
In 1990, Massimo (Valerio Mastrandea) has become an accomplished journalist, but his past haunts him. As he has to sell his parents’ apartment, memories resurface, both happy and sad, and the wounds of his childhood turn into an obsession…
The film constantly shifts back and forth between 1969, a bit in the 70s, when Massimo is a teenager, and the late 90s.
It is from this present time that the story builds, around doubts and fears, often poignant, but also brings relief, leading to a form of deliverance.
