Cinematographer Marco Graziaplena's soft, grainy, 16mm camerawork favors classic handheld "documentary-style" shots, relying on zoom lenses and shake to suggest immediacy. But it's in service of a lower-budget version of the sorts of epic melodramas that were regularly made in the middle part of the 20th century. There are hexagonal lens flares, lyrical montages, a few straight-out musical numbers with "a cappella" vocals and offscreen piano or orchestra occasionally chiming in as backup, and some of the situations that would've fit right into a silent movie about suffering innocents who can't catch a break. (There are even clips of actual silent films, as well as documentary footage of French life at that time, integrated with the rest of the story.)
"Scarlet" moves according to its own distinctive rhythm. It's slower and more contemplative than modern audiences are conditioned to accept, and it frequently surrenders to its muse, like its characters. You'll settle into a comfortable groove with the film when it's showing people doing complicated tasks with their bare hands in loving closeup, and then bang, here comes a full-length musical number, an interlude introducing the aviator and his partner in flight, or a scene of potential violence or violation (like her mother, Juliette is targeted with unwanted affection by a local punk who thinks they're destined to be together and won't take no for an answer). It's all over the place, and if there was a way to unify all of its disparate elements, the filmmaker never quite figured it out. You just have to agree that it's all of a piece and accept it isn't going to settle into any one mode for very long.
At his best, Marcello creates immersive worlds and stories in which connections are built instinctively and associatively: it is as far as the documentary form can get from journalism. This is the case with For Lucio as well. We get neither title cards nor time stamps, not even titles of songs or albums; just a film with gorgeous archive footage, a lot of great music with expertly translated lyrics, and images of the subject through his personal and creative changes. There is also one especially candid archive interview with Dalla sitting on the ledge of a train carriage that really captures the spirit of the unlikely stage star whom Tobia used to call "Spider" because he was short and hairy.
Film and television production teaching for single camera location and multi-camera studio work. Covering production methods, skills, techniques and technologies; specialising in cameras, lighting and grip equipment related to feature film, drama, documentary, music promos/commercials, multi-camera studio production and outside broadcast.
In northern France, Juliette grows up alone with her father, Raphaël, a veteran of the First World War. Passionate about singing and music, the lonely young girl meets a sorceress one summer who promises that scarlet sails will one day take her away from her village. Juliette never stops believing in the prophecy. Freely inspired by the tale "The Scarlet Sails" by Aleksandr Grin, Pietro Marcello's film blends music, history and folklore, bordering on magical realism.