Customer Reviews

Kaos

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Produced by Raitelevisione Italiana, this film set in Sicily and directed by brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, consists of four stories based on Luigi Pirandello's "Le Novelle per un Anno", and has some spectacular cinematography by Giuseppe Lanci and a gorgeous score by Nicola Piovani.
The first two stories in particular, take place in a parched, rocky setting, that has a strange beauty despite the dust and the cruelty of the life; life is harsh, and so is the way some of the characters treat each other. A warning to those of you, who like me are sensitive about the abuse of animals, the initial scene of the film with a crow is a little unpleasant.

The stories are: "L'Altro Figlio" (The Other Son), about a mother with two sons in America, and one that she has at home, but has rejected.
"Mal di Luna" (Moon Sickness), about a man who goes wild and howls when the moon is full, and his new wife.
"La Giara" (The Jar), which is a comedic story about an oil jar "as wide as an abbess".
"Requiem", is about a community of shepherds who challenge the town leader for land rights, to bury their dead.

the film ends with a lovely epilogue, "Colloquio con la Madre" (Conversing with Mother). Omero Antonutti plays Pirandello, and Regina Bianchi as his mother, with a scene on an island of pumice that is exquisite.
The ensemble cast is wonderful, with some members appearing in more than one story. Among the many fine actors are: Massimo Bonetti, Claudio Bigagli, Erica Maria Modugno, Franco Franchi, and Ciccio Ingrassia.
Just over 3 hours long, some may find this film slow, but if you are willing to immerse yourself in its unique atmosphere, you will be greatly rewarded.

Just to correct the mistake by a previous reviewer, the DVD contains the full-length uncut 188-minute film. It is a brand new digitally-restored transfer made especially for the Koch Lorber Films DVD release and looks great.

This is an excellent, beautiful Italian movie. In 4 different parts, which are movies on their own, the Taviani-brothers tell the gripping, sometimes hilarious stories of Italian fellowmen from their history and from present times. Stunning landscapes, rich colours, excellent acting and mere suspense make this movie to one of the tops of Italian filmhistory. For me it is already a classic and the best untill now of the highly talenhted Taviania-brothers. Go, and see.

Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) was actually born in a village named Kaos, in the region of Agrigento in Sicily. Many of his novels and novellas portrayed Kaos the village as perceptively as they portrayed Chaos, the normal state of society in post-unification Italy. Pirandello is best known to anglophones as a dramatist, the Godfather of the "theater of the absurd" and thus one of the progenitors of 'magic realism' in Latin America and elsewhere. But his prose is truly extraordinary, even in translation.

This cinematic Kaos converts four of Pirandello's short stories into four short films and an epilogue, connected only a symbolic crow in flight over the landsacpe of Sicily. The aerial photography of that landscape is stunningly beautiful, almost enough to qualify the film as a travelogue, but the film is in effect as much about Luigi Pirandello as it is about village life in Kaos at the end of the 19th C. Purely as cinema, it reminds me of the superb Japanese film Kwaidan, which also combined four ghost stories from the works of Lafcadio Hearne into a totality that exceeded any of the parts and that depicted the 'spirit' of the author throughout. Pirandello is portrayed in person in the 'Epilogue' to Kaos, but it's his fascination with his homeland that animates each of his stories and each of the episodes of the movie adaptation.

I admired this film quite a lot, and I might have spilled more words over it in this review, but I've discovered -- to my horror -- that this edition is abridged! Almost a third of the original has been cut! Now I'll have to find a release of the whole thing and watch it again! But that's a testimonial, isn't it, to my appreciation even for this abridgment.

Few filmakers around the world have been able to transcript with such precision and profundity of spirit the legacy of Luigi Pirandello.

This film is composed by four stories of this monumental writer. And the final result could not be more fortunate. The bitter cynicism of some characters, the fragile human condition and the cosmic poetry were exposed with impeccable plasticity through a fluid camera work.

You should not miss for any reason, this emblematic and superb feat of the cinema.

You can't help but fall in love with all the shortcomings of human nature which is what makes humans lovable after all. This is a film that almost reads like a book with moving photographs. The Taviani brothers (or Pirandello for that matter) do not need my review to do them justice. Their work speaks for itself. MUST SEE!

I love this movie, but I hoped to get the original version, which is about 3h long.
The information given in the web is: 188 minutes. The truth about the DVD is: only 105 minutes! Very disapointing!!! The online-shop didn't answer any questions about it!!

I guess this film is the first or second best film of Taviani brothers.
Luigi pirandello is one of very important writer of twentieth century. And the film includes his five stories.
Pirandello's stories are deep, touching and emotional. I read many of them becaus of this film.
So, This film let me known the writer. Before this film, I did not know about Luigi pirandello.
If you can get one of his books, you must read his stories. He is one of the king of short stories like Checkov.
He is a big man has written about light and darkness.
This is a thin film; it may take you depeer and depeer...

KAOS was the first film I ever saw that made a huge impact on me as a teenager and it was wonderful to find it and watch again twenty years later and appreciate the depth of the story and characters. The photography and artwork is beautiful and well worth seeing.

Beautiful movie! A must see. I am so glad I got it. A classic.