One of the most ravishing, enveloping theatrical experiences I had last year was with Michelangelo Frammartino’s long-awaited return, Il Buco. The latest film from the Le Quattro Volte director depicts a 1960s expedition to explore Europe’s deepest cave, 700 meters below Eath, located in southern Italy. The Venice winner and NYFF selection was picked up by Grasshopper Film and now the new trailer has arrived ahead of a May 13 theatrical release.
David Katz said in his review, “Caves… whence we came from––and for Italian auteur Michelangelo Frammartino’s latest work Il Buco––towards which we return. The fixation with caves and speleology in this film hint at the sometimes-regressive nature of that discipline. In human evolutionary terms, it’s like retracing one’s steps: going back towards the darkness, our primitive homes before homo sapiens could colonize other terrains (for better, or rather, for worse). As a candidate for geographical mapping, is there such an urgent sense of utility? Cave complexes such as the Bifurto Abyss in southern Italy, depicted in this film, are a kind of anti-space, comparable to actual “outer space” in their inaccessibility and inhospitality to today’s humans.”
Watch the new trailer.
Il Buco opens on May 13 at Film Forum and will expand.