Giuseppe Capotondi, who stepped into the cinema with La Doppia Ora (2009) in the new film noir, was a series director for a long time. With The Burnt Orange Heresy (Yanık Portakal, 2019), he made a return to both cinema and black film. The book also specify that the film is adapted from Charles Willeford’s novel of the same name and details of translation. This book of the American writer changed as a venue when he met an Italian director, and the book in Florida left Italy in the adaptation. Criticizing people who are part of the art world, the film takes a modern look at the black film by including crime and intrigue.
After the flamboyant entrance of the art critic James Figueras, truth and lie always interfere. It is a world of illusions that nobody trusts each other and those who trust are pure. The deadly woman (femme fatale), which is one of the most memorable characters of film noir, is often associated with black widow. Black widows are a species of spider that eats its man after mating. Fatal women also turn their lives upside down after seducing men, and may even lead to their death.
The Burnt Orange Heresy, on the other hand, focuses on a deadly man, saying that he brings death and bad luck, and symbolically symbolizes it with houseflies. It is possible to combine James’ criticism with the same metaphor. House flies feed on hard foods they cannot eat by dissolving them with stomach secretions. James, who is aware that he cannot succeed by painting, becomes a critic. In other words, it feeds on what others produce, by polluting it with lies, just like in the entrance scene.
Describing a complicated event between an art critic, a rich rich collector, an invisible painter for years and a mysterious woman, the film criticizes the industry, not the artist. We look at people who take refuge in hypocrisy and lies from the framework of James, the anti-hero. Berenice, which he has just met, tries to add a sense of curiosity to the story with his blurred background, but contributes by leaving only question marks instead of the image of the dangerous woman expected from a film.
Mick Jagger, who portrays the collector character, has a low performance compared to other players. Claes Bang, which is also in the movie The Square (2017), another criticizing the art world, manages to combine art and film noir with its cigarette and paranoid states. Although Claes Bang and Elizabeth Debicki are compatible as a couple, Debicki’s character could be deepened a bit. Donald Sutherland, who portrays the mysterious painter, is the best of the film despite his small role and manages to reach the point where he should be a story with him.
All about The Burnt Orange Heresy movie.
The Burnt Orange Heresy (2020)
Directed by: Giuseppe Capotondi
Starring: Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Donald Sutherland, Rosalind Halstead, Mick Jagger, Katie McGovern, Alessandro Fabrizi, Alexia Murray, Flaminia Fegarotti, Fabio Melchionna
Screenplay by: Scott B. Smith
Cinematography by: David Ungaro
Film Editing by: Guido Notari
Music by: Craig Armstrong
MPAA Rating: R for some sexual content/nudity, language, drug use and violence.
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: March 6, 2020
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