Il Buco

Tuesday 11 October 2022 at 7pm
The Elizabeth Picture Theatre

Il Buco, Michelangelo Frammartino, 2021. 93m
Rescheduled from 4 October to 11 October.

In August 1961, speleologists arrive from Italy’s North to map the depths of the Bifurto Abyss in Calabria, one of the deepest discovered caves in the world. As they meticulously document their discoveries—their hand drawn map of the cave system is both indicative of their approach and one of the film’s analogue pleasures—life continues above ground, whether through the watchful gaze of an Italian peasant or the coming of television.
Michelangelo Frammartino (Le Quattro Volte) uses this minimalist story as a framework for meditating on the Calabrian landscape, contrasting the geological time suggested by the caves with the passage of life and weather. Il Buco is as attentive to the light shifts of clouds above as it is to the abyss and the flicker of torches below.

Unrated 15+

With thanks to Coproduction Office