Andrea Magnani created a fairytale-like world in Jailbird in which one finds a deeper meaning, presented at the 34th Trieste Film Festival.
Synopsis:
As the son of two inmates Hyacinth was always more at home in prison than in the outside world, until he took part in a foot race that promised to change his life.
Review:
What an unexpected, endearing, mindboggling joyride Andrea Magnani’s second feature is! Jailbird (La Lunga Corsa, 2022) follows the emancipation of Giacinto – a boy who grows up in a women’s prison because both his parents are criminals. And apparently not very good at it. The young Giacinto is beloved in his… Home. The only other man – prison guard Jack (Giovanni Calcagno) – has a particular soft spot for Giacinto since his first day and gladly takes on the duty of a father figure.
Tensions arise when it is time for Giacinto to leave the prison. Jack is adamant that kindhearted Giacinto deserves to be free and live in the outside world, but Giacinto prefers to stay put. He even comes up with childlishly straightforward ideas about how to stay locked up. Eventually he becomes a prison guard himself then a prisoner until he is finally ready to try it out in the world.
Jaildbird is littered with shiny gems that add up to a larger theme or to nothing in particular. It is the viewer’s choice to enjoy the movie at face value as – what Magnani describes as fairy-tale; or to mix and match symbols that riddle the film into a deeper story. I suspect with Jailbird, you never watch the same film twice.
One of the most prominent themes in my first viewing was the circular repetetiveness of life. Giacinto grows up in prison because his parents are criminals and ends up a prisoner himself. Giacinto’s father is disappointed that he wasn’t born a girl hoping that that would break the pattern. His surrogate father Jack is the biological father of a girl but passes on his profession to Giacinto. And then a girl is born at the end of a film ready to break the loop we’ve been caught in from the start.
Giacinto is a funny runner and a race he participates in gives the Italian title to the movie – A Long Run. There is an obvious reference to Forrest Gump threaded through the film with the story culminating in a racing competiton that might change Giacinto’s life. Running in Jailbird is literal and metaphorical. Giacinto runs with his arms rigid by his side. An effective comedic image, but also a pointed reference at how hindered Giacinto is by his family and his surroundings. Again deeper meanings may be derived from running in jail, running away from jail and running away from the outside world. They are yours to mould to your preference.
The film derives its strength from questioning the idea of what it means to be free and the close relation of freedom and fear. Wide-eyed Adriano Tardiolo is excellent in the lead as Giacinto because of his physical comedy or, more accurately, his lack of expected physical response. It helps to further bolster the comedic effect of Magnani’s satire.
Jailbird relies on recognisable gags to colour the mood but also to leave enough headspace to follow the surrealist story. The audience at the 10pm screening was moved to a few laughs at the start, but quieted down half way through. Perhaps busy puzzling pieces of the story together. The film’s pacing was appropriately engaging and the performances convincing to demand such a task from the audience. We were rewarded by a kind, hopeful story that keeps on giving.
Film Fest Report is excited to team up with the Trieste Film Festival, as official media partner for the 34th edition of the festival.
