Quiet Chaos

If Gomorrah represents the political strand of Italian film-making, Quiet Chaos is part of the more sentimental tendency, though thankfully not the sickly sweet variety. It begins with 2 lives saved and 1 life lost, and the emotional aftershocks are the heart of the film. Pietro worries that his daughter isn't grieving for her mother while seemingly oblivious to his own emotional deadness. A lot of the power comes from merely hinting at key facts or leaving them completely unexplained: Pietro's pre-marital affair with his eccentric sister-in-law; the emails exchanged between his wife and a children's author; Pietro's conversation with the mysterious businessman Steiner. Likewise, the real reason behind Pietro's decision to spend his days in the park outside his daughter's school is vague. He might claim it's for the little girl's sake but it's also a convenient way to avoid the office politics surrounding the merger at his workplace, as well as delaying having to deal with his own grief. An entirely different life springs up around him. There are new aquaintances centred on the park and visits from old friends and colleagues who use him as a sounding board for their thoughts and plans. In his own small way, he's become famous. The one truly false note in what is otherwise a moving portrait of love and loss is the sex scene late in the film. It might well be justified as a working out of guilt and anger but stylistically it's horribly jarring. The low key, open ending is much more fitting.