Film Forum

“A stylized philosophical romance” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker), Eugène Green’s new feature LA SAPIENZA finds successful French architect Alexandre (Fabrizio Rongione, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT) setting off for Italy to complete his long-gestating book on the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini. Accompanied by his wife, Aliénor (Christelle Prot Landman) who feels their relationship is slipping away, he is on a mission to renew his artistic and spiritual inspiration by basking in the architectural masterworks of the 17th century. Along the way, they meet a pair of Italian siblings in Stresa, Goffredo and Lavinia, whose interests and needs refocus the couple’s voyage and perspective. Taking its title from Borromini’s extraordinary Church of St. Yves at La Sapienza in Rome, LA SAPIENZA has been praised as “An impassioned and genuinely innovative argument for the coherence and value of life and the redemptive powers of art” (Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com).

FRANCE/ITALY • 2014 • 100 MINS. • IN FRENCH AND ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • KINO LORBER

Reviews

“Stunningly original and rapturously beautiful. Easily the most astonishing and important movie to emerge from France in quite some time. An impassioned and genuinely innovative argument for the coherence and value of life and the redemptive powers of art. Like Paolo Sorrentino’s THE GREAT BEAUTY of two years ago and Pawel Pawlikowski’s IDA last year, LA SAPIENZA evokes masterpieces of decades past while confidently charting new territory of its own. A work of exaltation and profound vision, it deserves to move Green to the front ranks of European auteurs.”
– Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com

“Richly textured, painterly images. (A) stylized philosophical romance.”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“Intriguing and provocative. A gracious and inviting film. A passionate defense of…an old and dignified ideal of civilization.”
– A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“Stirring. A picture that balances heart and mind with nuance.”
– Zachary Wigon, Village Voice