Tommaso (2020)
Cinema has historically been used to transport audiences to fictional worlds with fictional stories and perspectives. Where the results of these films obviously can be legendary more and more filmmakers have started to pull from their own personal lives and experiences creating raw, grounded, and vulnerable films as is the case with Abel Ferrara's Tommaso. Tommaso (Willem Dafoe) is an American filmmaker living in Rome with his wife Nikki (Cristina Chiriac) and young daughter Deedee (Anna Ferrara). While there, Tommaso tries to throw himself into his work but is constantly distracted by his dysfunctional family unit and own self-destructive tendencies.
Whenever a filmmaker creates a project with even an inkling of personal reflection, the threat of shallowness and self-fantasy becomes real. It takes a certain filmmaker at a certain point in not just their career but their life to be able to reflect and tell their story with their struggles and regrets out in the open. Abel Ferrara is a director not afraid to portray his representation of himself in a bad light. Not only is the character of Tommaso extremely open and honest about his previous experiences with topics such as drug abuse, but the film constantly paints Tommaso as a slimy individual looking for every chance he can to cheat on his wife which already is a turbulent and hostile relationship. Where Tommaso is likely not an exact representation of Abel Ferrara, he is undoubtedly a representation of him going as far as to have his wife and daughter played by Abel Ferrara's real-life wife and daughter. It is undoubtedly brave to see a filmmaker be so open to show so many flaws through a representation of themselves.
Despite his moral shortcomings, Tommaso is in no way a character that is hard to invest in mainly because of the performance given by Willem Dafoe. As revealed specifically through monologues scattered throughout the film taking place at group meetings for former substance abusers, Dafoe continually proves his masterful ability to embody a character to the fullest extent. Consistently, Dafoe's acting ability leads to performances that feel genuine and nuanced as is the case in Tommaso. Dafoe doesn't play Tommaso with a forced angle. Dafoe isn't capturing a villain or a hero. Instead, he is simply capturing an individual who has complicated emotions and thoughts. This performance brings the character to life which in return brings the film to life.
Where the lead performance by Dafoe is going to do a lot to suck large audiences into the film, the editing by Fabio Nunziata is going to be what makes or breaks the film for most. Tommaso is a film that often wanders into dream sequences which are often dark and hard to watch in nature. There is no doubt that these sequences are jarring, often appearing out of nowhere while feeling completely out of place when compared to the rest of the film. Where for some of these sequences easily could pull them out of the story causing the film to feel even sloppy at points, they also will work perfectly well for some. They never feel like a cheap gimmick (unlike how this technique normally often feels in modern horror movies) and always feel as if they are serving a purpose.
Despite his moral shortcomings, Tommaso is in no way a character that is hard to invest in mainly because of the performance given by Willem Dafoe. As revealed specifically through monologues scattered throughout the film taking place at group meetings for former substance abusers, Dafoe continually proves his masterful ability to embody a character to the fullest extent. Consistently, Dafoe's acting ability leads to performances that feel genuine and nuanced as is the case in Tommaso. Dafoe doesn't play Tommaso with a forced angle. Dafoe isn't capturing a villain or a hero. Instead, he is simply capturing an individual who has complicated emotions and thoughts. This performance brings the character to life which in return brings the film to life.
Where the lead performance by Dafoe is going to do a lot to suck large audiences into the film, the editing by Fabio Nunziata is going to be what makes or breaks the film for most. Tommaso is a film that often wanders into dream sequences which are often dark and hard to watch in nature. There is no doubt that these sequences are jarring, often appearing out of nowhere while feeling completely out of place when compared to the rest of the film. Where for some of these sequences easily could pull them out of the story causing the film to feel even sloppy at points, they also will work perfectly well for some. They never feel like a cheap gimmick (unlike how this technique normally often feels in modern horror movies) and always feel as if they are serving a purpose.
Where these sequences overall find their place in the film's screenplay, the one area where it feels the film could use more work is in its side characters, specifically with that of Tommaso's wife Nikki. Where the film does give the character a bit of development from Tommaso's perspective, the overall dysfunctional family unit could have been more fleshed out. At no point does it really feel like the film takes the time to set up the relationship between Tommaso and Nikki which therefore makes their conflict lack the depth and understanding from the audience. Possibly the biggest shame of this is that Cristina Chiriac never gets a scene to really control and show her full potential unlike Dafoe. Considering she is a newer actor it is entirely possible that the filmmakers worried that she wouldn't be able to hold her own in comparison to Dafoe, but it feels like one area of the story that the film doesn't really go into and what the film gets from Chiriac feels high quality enough.
Despite this one area where the film lacks development, Tommaso is undoubtedly an impressive personal character study. Not only does Willem Dafoe give one of the best performances of the year so far but the screenplay is powerful and raw. Tommaso will be released on Virtual Cinemas starting June 5th and is absolutely worth the time to check out.
Despite this one area where the film lacks development, Tommaso is undoubtedly an impressive personal character study. Not only does Willem Dafoe give one of the best performances of the year so far but the screenplay is powerful and raw. Tommaso will be released on Virtual Cinemas starting June 5th and is absolutely worth the time to check out.