never has spiritual life been so physical: rain falling over our heads, a warm sun, a cold breeze or a waterfall drowning our speech. after all, as brother ginepro taught us, one must preach not by word, but by example (transposing this train of thought to rossellini's diegesis, speech may be important, but movement is essential).as usual in rossellini's filmography, sophisticated movements and gestures are as carefully shown as they can be. when he pans, we feel the weather, the texture of the earth, we see the face of our brother smiling thankful for how lucky he is to be alive. sound design is metaphysical, be it with classical music or the melody of the birds.in ford's 'young mr. lincoln', history is made by the falling of a branch, here it is defined by falling from dizziness. a film where the act of walking is as graceful as a prayer, where the offering of a pig's trotter to a convalescent friend is a miracle, where getting beaten up with a stick in the mud is as blissful as the singing of birds, or a child's play. perfect happiness is to suffer from loving the other.this movie taught me how to live.
