Singing Behind Screens

"Cantando dietro i paraventi" tells the story of a woman who takes the leadership of a group of pirates which was once at the orders of her dead husband . Olmi got us used to the mix of epic fable and historical tale but this time he also expresses his personal views on storytelling through an explicit use of a theatrical representation . All aspects of cinematography are at very high levels in this movie : excellent photography (the hands of Fabio Olmi are a big promise for Italian cinema) , beautiful sounds and striking dialogs even though in the Italian version the Chinese actors are not superbly dubbed . Everything is very well mixed together and the spectator truly has the feeling to live in one of those ancient oriental fables . I personally think this title doesn't achieve the formal perfection of "Il Mestiere delle armi" or "L'albero degli zoccoli" but is still very enjoyable and well made reminding me the more poetic version of Olmi that we've seen in "Il segreto del bosco vecchio". Surely one of the best movies of 2003 .

There's a laconic but amazing beauty in Olmi's last release. "Cantando dietro i paraventi" is a song for all the adventures that we didn't experiment, for all the landscapes we'd never see. It's his more "wellesian" work and one of the movies that impressed me the most in the last five years. I don't want to think what would Greenaway do with this material but probably a total failure. This film from a veteran like Olmi remembers us that weerasethakul and Sang-soo are the present, not the future. After a long career and still recent his brilliant "Ilo mestiere delle armi", Olmi returns to a place that he never thought: the land of the filmmakers compromised with themselves and the history. It's amazing doing this in a rickety cinematography like Italy's. Cheers, signore Olmi

First of all, I must apologize on behalf of my Latin (Italian) blood!! I mean, if there is something I like... I really LIKE IT !! and let me say it again: I really loved & LIKED this film!! The script takes you back to those stories by Emilio Salgari about the Malasya's Tigers or even to those other Pirates at the Caribbean Sea. But this time, just sailing by the Sea of China... Oh sorry!! it is a little far away from the Hispaniola...? It must be the Butterfly Effect!! Changing places, from behind the screen to the open sea, or inside the Captain's Cabin to the beautiful Widow Ching's heart (Jun Ichikawa not only speaks Italian with Rome accent, but her eastern beauty has that touch too!!), or deep her (ours) thoughts, memories or dreams... who really knows? It is more than a tale for grown people that used to be children once upon a time... Lovely!! I really enjoy it!! Oh!! by the way, if you are planning to watch it with your kids, beware about some elegant & artistic views of Miss Ichikawa's beauty... just a few minutes before the end of the story... But don't loose the message that comes on the gorgeous kites... Lovely!! This is a film to enjoy it.

Surely it is not a masterpiece but a very very impressive work.

First of all watching a far-eastern myth from the perspective of an Italian director is really exciting. Costume and production designs are very good. On the other hand cinematography is also brilliant. The most interesting part is that cinematography is not something we used to see in far-eastern movies. That increases the originality. Italian speaking characters are not artificial since all the dialogs and themes contain universal issues. Bud Spencer's performance is really good. But the biggest thing is, of course, Olmi's narration style. There were some parallel editing samples in the movie that should have been shown in film classes.

This is probably the worst movie I have seen since another Italian 'masterpiece': Nonhosonno by director Dario Argento. Actors play awfully, the story is unbelievable, the shift from theatre stage to ships not consistent. Bud Spencer randomly mixing Italian with occasional Spanish words is pure crap (why has he to do it?? Is there any reason for that? Maybe because his character is supposedly from Andorra… where Spanish is NOT spoken…). Moreover, watching Chinese speaking Italian (some are VERY badly dubbed) is kind of ridiculous… Chinese proverbs are scattered in the screenplay, and no one of them makes any sense… The ships and the setting are indeed beautiful, but why not spending all the money they cost in other stuff, an average screenplay writer and an average director for example… oh, I see, they are the same person. I cannot understand why certain directors just do not retire as they should… Ermanno Olmi delighted us with at least one masterpiece (L'Albero degli Zoccoli), a lot of boring movies, but never had he attained such a horrible level… and still there are reviewers on the web that hold this movie in good opinion (have a look on Google and you'll see)! Hey, Italian film critics, why are you just so scared of writing a negative review for this film? Why praising it? Because Olmi is the prestigious, long career, beloved local filmmaker? Because of "political" reasons? An average Vanzina brothers' movie is 100 times better than this