Giovanni Totaro
Italy | 2017 | 91 min
Swiss Premiere
Language : Italian
Subtitles : English, French
Summer. The Italian beaches are bursting with Italians hell-bent on enjoying their holidays. On Palermo’s Mondello beach over thousand cabins are built custom made to host families who are eager to spend their summer holidays in the sun. The film captures fragments and miniatures of the many activities and pleasures while from tiny radios reverberate distant echoes of political debates and football matches. Every group shares its own ritual: playing cards, dancing, sunbathing. A family rather goes into debt than renounce their seaside holidays and share the illusion of appearing wealthy in the eyes of the other beach-goers. Some of the people rather sleep at night in small cabins they have rented than leave the warm environment of the beach. A local politician tries to win potential electors among the cabins on the beach making promises he will never keep. The barman’s only worries are making as much money as possible to get through the winter that is already looming even though the high summer season is reaching its peak. A bright and impressionistic look at the Italian society, the counter-shot of a complex political situation
Giona A. Nazzaro
