The Embalmer (2002)

Italian Movie.

Matteo Garrone's The Embalmer tells the sad story of a love triangle. Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux), a mob-connected dwarf who works as a taxidermist, establishes a working relationship with Valerio (Valerio Foglia Manzillo), who loves animals. The closeted Peppino, who carries a torch for Valerio, is threatened when Valerio takes up with Deborah (Elisabetta Rocchetti), who moves in with the pair. Soon the tension leads to horrible acts committed by and on the different members of the group. The Embalmer was screened at the Director's Fortnight during the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

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Peppino is a middle-aged, very short man and skilled taxidermist who supplements his meager living by doing work for the local Mafia. Diego, is a beautiful 20-year-old guy who's fed up with working as a waiter. And Deborah is a young girl who is unhappy with her looks, and her life in general. These three lost souls meet by chance, and as fate would have it, their story becomes a tormented chronicle of denied love. One day, Peppino meets Diego at the zoo, and he is instantly smitten. When he discovers that they share a fascination with animals, he takes Diego on as a well-paid apprentice in order to spend more ti...
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me with him. So, what is it that keeps the beautiful young Diego, who can have anything, with the manipulative and sneaky Peppino? Is it strictly professional? Is there a mutual romantic attraction? Is it the money? A father-son desire? Mentor and protégé? Peppino's seduction of Diego comes through nights in bars and double dates with hookers, rather than through expressing his physical desire for him. Diego allows Peppino's friendly caresses, and casually dismisses them as part of the fun--that is, until he falls in love with Deborah, a strong-willed young woman who enters his life unexpectedly. As she spends more time with the two, Deborah sees through this seemingly hetero relationship. Peppino tries to accept the changes in his relationship with Diego, but becomes increasingly resentful of Deborah's intrusion.
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The Embalmer, directed by Matteo Garrone, is the story of unrequited love and repressed homosexuality gone awry. Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux) is a diminutive taxidermist who secretly courts an unsuspecting Greek god named Valerio (Valerio Foglia Manzillo) by grossly overpaying him to work as his assistant. Hungry for direction and purpose in life, Valerio chooses to ignore the romantic yearnings of the older, much homelier man's attentions, throws himself into the work, and pals around with Peppino in spite of their differences. Peppino orchestrates debauched nights on the town with prostitutes in an effort to gain ...
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false intimacy with Valerio. There is no denying that the younger man is a willing party, and he even looks the other way when Peppino is employed by the mob to stash drugs in corpses. When Valerio falls in love with the tempestuous Deborah (Elisabetta Rochetti), Peppino is outraged to find that she is stubborn and shrewd, and cannot be manipulated for his own ends. The seemingly gentle path of Matteo Garrone's naturalistic film gives way to darker undercurrents and a creeping suspense that is irresistibly absorbing and quietly nerve-wracking. Director of photography Marco Onorato provides deep and dark wide-angle shots. And the littered beaches and abandoned streets of Cremona and locations outside Naples create a beautifully bereft backdrop that enhances this tale of three lost souls.
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De dwergachtige Peppino is dierenopzetter. Hij voelt zich aangetrokken tot de atletisch gebouwde Valerio. Bij wijze van aardig gebaar weet hij de naïeve Valerio in te palmen om zijn assistent te worden. Hij doet er tevens alles aan om zo veel mogelijk in het gezelschap van deze jongen te kunnen verkeren. Wanneer Peppino moet toezien hoe Valerio een relatie krijgt met de mooie Deborah, en Valerio uit 'zijn vingers' wegglipt, is hij aldus behoorlijk jaloers.

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