Human Capital (2013)

In the closing moments of this intricate drama, "Human capital" is defined as an insurance industry term, referring to the way damages payouts are calculated upon death, partly dependent on the individual's "emotional bonds". But the phrase more broadly refers to the way that the productivity and creativity of people can be converted into economic value. These definitions tell us everything we need to know about the themes at hand in Paolo Virzì's deconstruction of the Italian upper middle.

Human Capital is Italy's entry for next year's Academy Awards, and it's not hard to see why. It's a handsome, solid, complex, character-driven drama with an already award-winning performance from Valeria Bruni Tedeschi at its centre. She plays Carla Bernaschi, the wife of a businessman on the cusp of ruin. She persuades him to buy her a crumbling theatre – a pet project – as a gift. But it quickly becomes apparent that the theatre isn't economically viable. It'll have to be converted into flats instead.

The film is full of such soul-crushing moments. One needn't look far for metaphors. The various subplots revolve around a car crash (The Crash), and the fallout which threatens to ruin those at the bottom of the social ladder, leaving those at the top untainted. One needn't, also, look far for comparisons: Paul Haggis's award-friendly Crash, and the work of Alejandro Iñárritu, in the way that chronologically concurrent stories are shown one after another.

But Virzì's film is less aggravatingly worthy than the work of Haggis and less laborious than Iñárritu's English-language work. Indeed, the first of four "chapters" plays out with wicked dry humour, as Dino Ossola (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) desperately claws at the deal of a lifetime in order to break into the business elite. He's trying to seduce that wretched husband of Carla's, Giovanni (Fabrizio Gigfuni), but he only recognises the capital, not the humanity. It leaves Carla bereft; searching for meaning and affection. Meanwhile, both the Ossolas and the Bernaschis are bound by their kids. Serena Ossola (Matilde Gioli, resembling a younger Eva Green) knows something about the car crash, and the cost of keeping or revealing the secret is where the real meaning of the film's title will become known.

Virzì's style starts out dead pretty; all fairy tale lighting and wintry wonderlands, mirroring the illusory worlds the wealthy (or would-be-wealthy) inhabit. But as the cost of these characters' decisions become known, the camera leaves the tripod and the style gets grittier. Virzì is clearly aware of the inherent humour and horror in seeing the same events from multiple perspectives. While comedy gives way to tragedy, the twists and turns don't feel manipulative, and ultimately this is a story imbued with hope. In part this is due to the villain of the piece – the apparently heartless Giovanni – never being reduced to a mere monster.

The structure does mean that at times the chronology of events becomes muddled. It's not always completely clear how much time is supposed to have passed between scenes, leading to some false impressions of certain relationships. And, inevitably for such a tightly woven story, narrative contrivance and convenience is never far away. But then, what does one expect from a morality play? And a thoroughly modern one at that. This is an intelligent, accessible film, wise to focus on the most interesting characte

Fmovies: Greetings again from the darkness. The financial crisis-manslaughter-class warfare-thriller from novelist Stephen Amidon shifts from Connecticut (in the book) to just outside of Milan for director Paolo Verzi's look at class and character. A term used by insurance companies to calculate the value of a human life in settlement cases, "human capital" carries even more meaning in this twisted tale of greed and broken dreams.

After an opening sequence that shows an off-duty waiter getting knocked from his bicycle by a swerving SUV in the dark of night, the story is divided into chapters that provide the various perspectives of different characters affected by this hit-and-run. Dino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) is a middle-class real estate business owner whose girlfriend (the too rarely seen Valeria Golino) is pregnant with twins, and his daughter Serena (Matilde Gioli) is dating a private school classmate Massimiliano (Guglielmo Pinelli) who comes from the upper crest Bernaschi family that is living the dream thanks to the dad's (Fabrizio Gifuni) hedge-fund success.

It's easy to see how the lives of these two families become intertwined, and how a few other characters are also affected, but the real joy here is in getting to know each through their own actions. Dino desperately wants a taste of the finer things in life, and risks everything by fraudulently obtaining a bank loan in order to buy into Bernaschi's hedge fund. His wife Roberta is a trusting and pure-hearted woman who accepts her place in society and warmly looks forward to being a new mom. Their daughter Serena proves to be the best judge of character and soon enough boots the spoiled kid Massimiliano to the curb, while connecting with the artistic and misunderstood Luca (Giovanni Anzaldo), though even Serena's moral compass shows its cracks.

Bernaschi is a smooth operator and the perfect face for a hedge fund so dependent on the financial collapse of its own country. His wife Carla (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) is a lost soul Â… enjoying the perks of a wealthy lifestyle, but still holding on to her artistic dreams of youth. Life as a trophy wife is evidently not so fulfilling for those with their own aspirations. Their son Massimiliano, as you might imagine, is unable to live up to the expectations of his father, and frequently handles his perceived lack of parental attention by over-boozing at every opportunity.

This film was Italy's submission to the Academy in the Best Foreign Language category, but unfortunately did not make the final cut. It is rich in texture and remarkable in its ability to convey depth in so many characters. The basic story has some similarities to the film 21 Grams, in that we witness the many ways in which people handle crisis. In this case, the mystery of the initial sequence is left unsolved until near the end, but there are so many personal "fork in the road" moments, that solving the case of the cyclist death somehow doesn't monopolize our thoughts.

Excellent acting throughout allows us to connect with each of the key characters, and especially worth noting are Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Matilde Gioli. Ms. Gioli is a newcomer with a bright future. She brings believability and strength to a teenager role that would more typically be over-the-top or one-dimensional in the hands of a lesser actress. Even more impressive is the performance from Ms. Bruni Tedeschi who perfectly captures the heartbreak of a woman living a life others can only dream about, while her own

"Human Capital" (2013 release from Italy; 110 min.) brings the story of two families, whose fates are so different yet intertwined. As the movie opens, we see a staff person bike home late at night after having worked at a big event of some sort. We also see a speeding SUV and the SUV appears to accidentally hit the biker, but doesn't stop. Whoa! Who was that? What just happened? After the opening credits, we are told we are "Six Months Earlier - Chapter 1 - Dino" and we get to know a number of characters: there is Dino, the real estate guy whose daughter Serena is dating Massimiliano, the son of a hedge-fund manager. Dino convinces the latter to let him buy in, but soon regrets doing so when the market tanks. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first, this is the big screen version of American author Stephen Amidon's acclaimed 2005 novel of the same name. How often do you see a big screen adaptation of an American novel that is made abroad, rather than in the US? Director Paolo Virzi transposes the story from Connecticut to Northern Italy very nicely, and along the way adds other elements to make this his own story. Second, the movie works on different levels: there is the immediate question as to what exactly happened at that hit-and-run late night accident (?). Then there is the social commentary about today's society and the influence of money on people (keep in mind: this is Italy, where they have been going through a Great Recession for YEARS now). The movie is split into 4 chapters, and we rehash more or less the same events from different people's perspectives (Dino, Carla, Serena). It's a technique that has been used before, but when executed well, as in this movie, it elevates the movie, as you discover new details in each new perspective of the same events. Last but not least, the movie features a great ensemble cast (there are about 7 or 8 key characters to keep track of). Bottom line: this is a movie that caught my attention from start to finish.

This movie is the May, 2015 release of Film Movement's on-going DVD Of the Month club. No idea why a 2013 release only now gets exposed to US audiences but better late than never I suppose. As always, the Film Movement DVD comes with a number of bonus materials, including an okay "making of", but far better is the bonus shortie. This time we get "Job Interview", an excellent 9 min. shortie from Germany about a woman (Lisa) being interviewed by another woman for a job. Just watch! Meanwhile, "Human Capital" is a worthwhile addition to Film Movement's ever-growing library of foreign and indie movies. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Human Capital fmovies. The other reviews already mention a lot. What I absolutely liked was the subtleties, the reality. The characters were very well worked out (and acted!) and it was very convincing. I know- too well - the world on the hill. In general, things are always oversimplified or exaggerated. Not here.

Everything else (plot, script, photography etc) was also perfect - but this might well be the first time that I see wealthy characters so truthful.So layered. I cherished it.

You come to love most of the characters, with an exception of the father of Serena which I first fell sorry for, but during the movie the opinion gradually changed. Un baccio! Che cazzo. Even the mother of Massimiliano - so well acted! - you feel pity for her. And she looks so empty, so sad.

I have always been struck by the sentence in F. Scott Fitzgerald's THE GREAT GATSBY (1925) used to describe Tom and Daisy Buchanan as "destructive" in the sense that they have a lot of money, but that renders then totally indifferent to human suffering, especially that of the eponymous hero.

Through the ingenious of three interlinked stories, each depicting the same incident, Paolo Virzi's film achieved a similar effect. A man is knocked off his bicycle on Christmas Eve by someone driving an SUV; the action leading up to and including that incident over the previous six months is narrated from Dino Ossola's (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) perspective, from that of his daughter Serena (Matilde Gioli) and that of their rich acquaintance's wife Carla (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). The story is relatively straightforward, involving Carla's husband Giovanni (Fabrizio Gifuni), her son Massimiliano (Guglielmo Pinelli), and a young man wrongfully accused of drug possession who has received psychiatric counseling (Gigio Alberti).

What we learn from the narrative is how Giovanni lives an affluent existence that renders him totally insensible to the sufferings of others. He believes that money can buy anything, even justice. We see him mostly in interior sequences, in a rich-looking house surrounded by guests. Carla believes there is more to life than simply money, but apparently cannot countermand her husband's will. Money produces servility. Massimiliano has the same indifference to others as his father; so long as he has the chance to sleep in his own bed and enjoy driving his new "beast" - the SUV involved in the accident - then his existence is fulfilled.

Morally speaking. Dino's existence is not much better, as he invests €700,000 in one of Giovanni's schemes and loses virtually nine- tenths of his capital. In revenge he tries to blackmail Carla for €900,000 plus a kiss; the fact that this scene takes place in a theater underlines the theme of the film, that these people are merely performing in life, rather than trying to understand its vicissitudes.

In plot-terms, HUMAN CAPITAL can be approached as a murder-mystery, as we are led down various blind alleys until we discover who actually killed the cyclist. In thematic terms, however, the film is far more preoccupied with showing the depths to which people can sink in their attempts to avoid confronting the truth about their existences and live instead in their financial bubbles, both mental as well as tangible.

Lately I have been watching lots of movies from the book adaptation and here it comes another one. This time an English language novel transformed into an Italian movie. But what I heard is that a few changes were made to bring the Italian flavor. Well, what could I say more, if you know the director you will say he's the right person to make it happen and he did excellently. Recruited the best cast and extracted best out of them.

The story of the two families narrated in the different streams when a cyclist got hit by a car on the Christmas eve. So the question has been asked, how did it happen? And who did it? The characters from two families begin to expose their role on that accident night revealing who did what. Dino, a realtor sees an opportunity to get into a big earning league so he decides to invest a large amount on it. Followed by the recession he has to face the reality of business that puts his life on a stake. Carla, the wife of a multimillionaire gives a financial support for the struggling company. Later she has to let it go when her husband's business begins to fall apart. Serena, the daughter of Dino and Massimiliano, son of Carla are the close friends. Their story follows where one of them finds their true love and another one get into sadness for some reason. When all these three episodes concludes the final chapter begins to unveil the truth with a twist.

''I know it does not look much like you, I tend to make things uglier.''

The story was told in layers which were divided into the four chapters. The story that happened between the particular timeline was repeated again and again with another character's perspective and with different camera angles till truth reveals in the final chapter. As it's still developing the opening was confusing which was the first chapter. Without holding-up in development, it straight goes with the main intention of the theme. If you pass that then the following segments interest you to make you guess the possibilities the suspense it hold. Kind of impossible to predict because of the introduction of the related characters to the particular incident consumed by the three quarters of the film. Which mean twist comes at the latter part which was really a good one. Each character that comes in the different episodes were incredible. Like, for a moment it was unhooked from the rest and centralizes that specific story stream, but the common event holds the story all together. I liked all the main characters, but the character Serena steals the final show. The role who played it was a new face and I kind see a great career ahead of her. (God, she's kind of attractive, hope its not me the only one to say that.) This was one of the recent best neo-noir. If somebody asks, I definitely recommend it.