La Gradiva

La Gradiva is a beautiful reflection of life from the very first second to the las. A reminder that every life eventually becomes the past. It is perfectly crafted with metaphors and fantasy and features vivid characters. It explores the coming of age drama and conflict of their lives while surrounded by the art, history and monuments which represent the significance of time, memory and change. The film builds slowly where it takes us on a journey with their characters, where they live every detail and It feels both timeless and of this moment and creates a space to reflect. The film has some inspiration or similarities with In La Chimera, the characters physically dig into the ancient civilization past. Arthur and the gang uncover ancient graves and artefacts, while Arthur is psychologically obsessed with his dead lover. In both films the ancient world and the contemporary world constantly bleed into one another. In La Gradiva, teenagers visit Pompeii, where an ancient civilisation has literally been frozen in time by Vesuvius. The ruins and preserved bodies become a mirror for the teenagers' own emotional turmoil and desires which makes them vulnerable and their inability to possess what has disappeared. Both films represent death, memory, lost love and the desire to recover something that is gone. That's where i absolutely fell in love with this film. It perfectly depicts the frozen past which reflects the living before they themselves become part of the past. It is one of the most beautiful films you will see in recent times about adolescence and their desires, the strange almost painful feeling, when you realise that your life is moving forward whether you're ready for it or not. while drawing parallel with frozen time and politics.