Sangue Del Mio Sangue, #Venice72

Women Really Are The Spawn Of Satan? That’s One Theory Behind Sangue Del Mio Sangue

Women are bewitching, and men will suck the life out of them; among the world of possible interpretations of Marco Bellocchio’s Sangue Del Mio Sangue (Blood of my Blood) this is the one I’m going with.

I’m not complaining; this film is spectacular in its ambiguity; it’s creepy, gorgeous, horrifying and funny all at once in both of the stories that Bellocchio tells in it. In the first, a nun has seduced a priest and he was apparently so ashamed that he killed himself, so in order for his twin brother (Pier Giorgio Bellocchio) to avoid burying him in the “donkey cemetery”, it must be proven that the nun is a witch.

In the second, parallel and yet not at all parallel story, it is modern times and in the same location as the witch trial, the mysterious Count Basta (Roberto Hertlitzka), a vampire, has found a great place to hide. Basta acts as a sort of goulish godfather to the town, and since everybody has an interest in maintaining the status quo, when a Russian billionaire shows up interested in buying the decrepit prison, something must be done.

How the two stories connect is still a mystery to me, but the common thread seems to be the relationship between men and women, the spells we cast over each other, and how we eventually do each other in. The lucky ones get away with it, but some of us pay a pretty big price.

Sangue Del Mio Sangue also stars Lidiya Lieberman as the witch who will not confess, and Alba Rohrwacher and Federica Fracassi as pious sisters who have been shut away in the rectory a little too long. Cinematography by the master, Daniele Cipri.

A strong contender for the Golden Lion here at Venice 72, this film will surely enchant some and vex others (much in the same way La Grande Bellezza did) in American movie theaters.