Yuri Ancarani (Ravenna,
- is a contemporary
film-maker. Awarded
in Locarno, The
Challenge (Slingshot
Films, 2016) is his first
full-length movie
104 Cinema
like, what is keeping me glued to the
screen. The narrative is not linear,
but the pure beauty of the imagery
grabs my attention.
I really enjoyed The Challenge. My
incomprehension lulled me, making
me think how Ancarani’s talent is
reconstructing the language of cin-
ema. He rebels against the rule that
says you have to introduce continu-
ous and spectacular action. He ex-
clusively choreographs purely cin-
ematographic images right at a
moment when cinema is supposed-
ly dying because it produces only
images for the masses: the very bor-
ing spectacular fiction movies that
are all the same. Ancarani instead
remains loyal to his main cause to
build a story of imagery and sound.
In the end, Ancarani’s work is rem-
iniscent of an alien code, or work by
the American sculptor Michael Heiz-
er, an unknown language I am unable
to decipher, but that is related to
science fiction.
I do not want to understand; that’s
not what interests me. The built sto-
ry is not based on action but on wait-
ing, on a fascinating type of ritual
that does not belong to me.
The baroque, grotesque and irri-
tating opulence of the men’s life
comes across as purified of their
faults. The pictures are a mirror show-
ing an alien reality where there is
nothing to understand, where nothing
can be judged at face value, and noth-
ing stands in need of judgement.
Ancarani’s rich Qatari men are
disconnected from their blame to
become accessories at the service of
the picture. Overall, a sense of order
is communicated, and it character-
ises almost chaotic events such as a
caravan of off-road vehicles, motor-
cycles, lunar desert landscapes, and
the falcons in flight. The images are
constructed like sculptures that will
remain in our memory.Each month, the Cinema column
features an artist film, selected and
annotated by Piero Golia (artist and
impresario in Los Angeles, born in
Naples, 1974).