“PANDEMIC – The world in the time of Covid” is the last documentary by Luca Rosini.
It is a coproduction between RAI and MBC South Korea. Rosini personally recorded all the scenes in Italy.
Rosini’s documentary style is sensitive, honest and incisive. Far from any form of gratuitous dramatization and easy judgement, Rosini aims to weave a patchwork of stories able to give an exhaustive portrait of the world in the time of Covid.
He handpicked and edited video-messages, interviews and recorded material from Italy and all over the world from the United States to South Korea, from Brazil to India.
Rosini develops and strengthens his skills to convey the cinematographic quality of reality creating a strong style in the documentary genre that manages to be artistic and truthful at the same time.
The stage is left to the real people affected by the pandemic: Rosini often presents a sole figure against a vast empty background. This solution has a strong dramatic effect and allows to suggest the struggle of one individual against a bigger enemy. While following a single person in empty buildings or landscapes Rosini perfectly portrays the disturbing beauty of the surreal silence that is the true voice of the pandemic. The storyline is articulated by a wise and sensitive juxtaposition of contrasting scenes to express the complex nature of the situation. The viewer is exposed to different aspects of this multifaceted reality and feels stimulated in an ambivalent way.
Many scenes have a distinct pictorial quality such as the representation of a multitude of coffins that vividly embodies the violence against the ritual of the funeral. The virus affecting the funeral is the miserable move of a merciless enemy as it is an attack to a distinctive symbol of civilization and strips off the comfort of humanity from people who needs to process their loss.
The direct testimony of the survivors focuses on the joy of the moments lost, this way we gain a conscious appreciation of the beauty of life through pain.
The documentary ends with a crude analysis of the situation as the result of a sick behaviour of humanity against nature and as an opportunity for a brighter future to come.
Often the camera flies over the scene evoking a vision on reality from above. This point of view creates a sense of unity in the pain inflicted and in the endurance shown by people. In line with his previous production, Rosini celebrates the unsung epic heroism of ordinary people facing their everyday struggles with resourceful strength and deep dignity.
This way Rosini’s tale of the world in the time of Covid becomes an opportunity to reflect on our lives, to appreciate what really matters and to redefine our sense of normality.
“Pandemic” has been broadcasted on the Italian National TV Rai3 on the 18th of March 2021.
Watch “Pandemic-The world in the time of Covid”
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