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Freaks Out

When I read the blurb about Freaks Out in the Revelation Film Festival programme I earmarked it as the one to watch for this year. Usually, this kind of anticipation results in disappointment but it wasn't to be here. This is a blast. You might think a film with a bunch of circus freaks and Nazis (both with super-powers), as well as a gang of amputee partisans might be a bit ironic, with a nudge and a wink to the audience. But Freaks Out plays it very straight, very sincere, almost in the vein of a neo-realist war film. The gist is that four Italian circus performers, seemingly left in the lurch by their ringleader, decide to join the Zircus Berlin, which is headlined by the erratically psychotic Franz, (Franz Rogowski). Our special quad are Fulvio (Claudio Santamaria), a grumpy, super-strong Chewbacca who can bend metal; Cencio (Pietro Castellitto), a weedy insect overlord; Mario (Giancarlo Martini), a magnetic, masturbating dwarf; and the heart of the film, Matilde (Aurora Giovinazzo), a young orphan who can command electricity.

The film starts by cleverly showing us each performer's act under a small big top on the outskirts of Rome, just before their workplace is demolished by (presumably) Allied bombs. As the troupe move towards the city, their kindly leader, Israel (Giorgio Tirabassi), convinces them to give him 300 Lira each so he can go into Rome to pay for their passage to the USA. When he doesn't return, Fulvio, Cencio and Mario, assuming he's done a runner with their dosh, head for the famous Nazi circus to find work. Matilde believes in Israel and suspects he's been snatched due to his Jewish heritage, so she goes her own way to look for him. There's a fantastic scene around this time where the crew stumble upon a round-up of Jews and the three guys are thrown into the trucks. It doesn't work out too well for the Germans and ultimately, this is a satisfyingly violent example of how their powers can be put to good use, but the scene also depicts the fucked up fervour of Italy's supposed ally. Can't hurt to be reminded.

It's an odd balancing act that second time director, Gabriele Mainetti pulls off here. There's the fantasy element, combined with some crude humour and ludicrous stunts (human cannonball, anyone?), sharing the screen with the horrors of WWII and Nazism, replete with torture, medical experimentation (à la Josef Mengele) and 'deportations'. Yet Mainetti and co-writer Nicola Guaglianone keep all the plates spinning just about right, with the only misstep perhaps the number of new characters introduced in the disabled partisan group. The cast are uniformly top-notch, even if Rogowski milks his six-fingered soothsayer role for all it's worth. Of course, the honkingly obvious symbolism of freaks representing the Jews (and other minorities) of Europe doesn't require much cognisance, and the tone of the film is slightly cloying but the audacity and style of the filmmakers help to make Freaks Out a gratifying watch.

[There's one more screening for Rev at the Luna on Fri July 15th at 8:50pm]

See also:

The first X-Men (2000), directed by Bryan Singer, is responsible for a lot of the themes in Freaks Out, and any chance to get a Marx Brothers film in, try At The Circus (1939), directed by Edward Buzzell.

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