SALTY AIR (L’ARIA SALATA)
by debbie lynn elias
 
This year, foreign films and foreign filmmakers are truly leaving their mark on the Los Angeles Film Festival, with what is undoubtedly the largest and most diversified showing of international filmmaking to ever screen at the festival.
In this fourth feature written and directed by Alessandro Angelini, Italy puts its stamp on LAFF with SALTY AIR (L’Aria Salata), another stellar submission in the International Showcase category and perhaps one of the strongest dramatic works to come from Italy in many a year.
A social worker/counselor to prisoners, Fabio is an earnest, honest and hard-working young man. Devoted to his career, he has little time for relationships, is basically a loaner and prefers to spend his time working or in contemplative reflection as he runs. He doesn’t allow people to get close to him and rarely talks of his childhood or his family but for his sister Cristina. Fabio’s girlfriend Emma doesn’t understand him at all and never moreso than when her father gifts Fabio a new car for his birthday. After all, daddy’s little girl needs something fine to be squired in around town.  Embarrassed by such extravagance, the car adds some friction to an already unstable and reluctant relationship, especially when Fabio refuses the gift in less than polite terms.  And under the circumstances, you just know there’s more here than meets the eye.
It doesn’t take long before Fabio’s routine and seemingly humdrum life is turned upside down when he is handed a new case - a man named Sparti; a convicted murderer already having served some 20 years in prison. But its not the case that enrages Fabio. It’s the face. The man. Fabio recognizes Sparti as being his father, a man that abandoned Fabio and Cristina when they were mere children. A man who didn’t care about his family. A man he had come to hate and whose very existence he has spent years trying to excise from his memory.  Overwhelmed and consumed with hatred and rage over his life and what it has become because of his father, given his position at the prison, Fabio realizes he can exact his long awaited revenge on Sparti. But even more than revenge, Fabio wants an atonement for what Sparti did not only to his only family but that of the man he killed. Without revealing his true identify to Sparti, Fabio embarks on an arduous and torturous taunting treatment of him, pushing the envelope as far as he can before carnal hostilities take hold of both men. 
Ultimately forced to reveal himself as Sarti’s son, the two try and find some common ground as a means of reconnecting. Sadly, Fabio’s outward attempts at reconciliation are nothing more than a ploy as he refuses to listen to, or accept, his father’s explanations for his prior actions and contemplates turning Sarti over to the Mafia when he gets him released from prison on a day pass. Adding more mess to the mix, Fabio surprises Cristina with a visit from the two of them where she unleashes her own brand of anger on the unsuspecting Sarti. With each at odds with the other, the air is thick and heavy with blame and unforgiveness.
Written by Angelini and Angelo Carbone, SALTY AIR is an intriguing character driven story that immediately pulls you into the familial and moral conflicts.  Drawing on the strength of the actors, and particularly Giorgio Pasotti and Giorgio Colangeli as Fabio and Sarti, respectively, the performances are raw energy. While there is little physical violence, especially for a prison setting, the emotional layering and explosiveness is vivid, intense and electrifying.  
One pitfall is some lack of continuity and a delay in character setup. Angelini dives right in at a quickened pace with the plot line which lends to overlooking explanatory details, giving room for audience question and thus detracting from the story. At the same time, this shortcoming is often compensated for by the talents of Pasotti and particularly the theater trained Colangeli. Angelini and Carbone also excel at avoiding the expected maudlin father-son-daughter reunion by keeping us on our toes thanks to Fabio’s underlying intentions.
Shot in an abandoned prison, production designer Alessandro Marrazzo keeps set dressing to a minimum which allows for Angelini’s camera to stay close to the actors, including the audience in the interpersonal dynamic. Impressive is the work of editor Massimo Fiocchio who creates an energy all its own thanks to rapid, clean cuts.
Screening on June 26 at 8:30 p.m. at the Italian Cultural Institute and Saturday, June 30 at 2:00 p.m. at The Landmark, SALTY AIR is breath of fresh air in Italian cinema.

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