Giuseppe Tornatore's Baaria is many movies in one. An accumulation of themes, scenes, styles and characters, not always fully integrated in one main storyline.
All together they form the memories of the city of Bagheria in Sicily, as well as of Giuseppe Tornatore himself. He recognizes the influence that the past – either directly experienced or handed down by his father - had in shaping his destiny. Like Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America", Baaria displays the circularity of time, overlapping different layers of past to represent the "texture" of the present.
The lack of linearity in the progression of the story and in the development of characters, gives - at times - a sense of unevenness and incompleteness, that risks to limit its impact on audiences.
All together they form the memories of the city of Bagheria in Sicily, as well as of Giuseppe Tornatore himself. He recognizes the influence that the past – either directly experienced or handed down by his father - had in shaping his destiny. Like Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in America", Baaria displays the circularity of time, overlapping different layers of past to represent the "texture" of the present.
The lack of linearity in the progression of the story and in the development of characters, gives - at times - a sense of unevenness and incompleteness, that risks to limit its impact on audiences.