The Ark of DisperataThe Ark of Disperata
(2018)
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The Ark of Disperata

A melancholic mayor's love of poetry and friendship with a small-time criminal leads to courageous choices.

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Why watch this film?

In a simple and light manner, this Italian film selected at the Venice Film Festival brings together three completely different men to tell a story about life, art, melancholy and crime. It's not a fierce comedy, it's rather a subtle one, playing also with the dullness of everyday life in a small town. Special mention to its beautiful photography.

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Plot summary

At Disperata, a small town in Southern Italy, the melancholy mayor Filippo Pisanelli feels terribly unfit for his role. Only a love of poetry and his passion for the literature lessons he gives to prison inmates admit a chink of light into his general state of depression. In jail he meets Pati, a small-time criminal from his own town. Pati and his brother Angiolino were dreaming of becoming the mafia bosses of Capo di Leuca, but the encounter with art changes everything and an unusual friendship between the three men will lead them to make courageous choices.

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