Sacro GRA (2013) Reviews

• a wonderful gallery of surprising characters

  Iwould2013-10-06

  This little movie is classified as "documentary" and named after the GRA, which is the orbital road that surrounds the city of Rome. So it would be legit to expect the environment of the metropolis suburbia to be the center and the focus of the narrative. Instead, I was quite surprised to discover how "Sacro GRA" is basically a gallery of portraits, featuring a series of curious and inspiring characters. All this people share the apparently unexciting fate of living their lives in the depressed urban context on the edge of the "Big Beauty". I mention the recent movie of Paolo Sorrentino because the comparison between the real characters of this "Sacro GRA" and the fictional characters of "La Grande Bellezza" was, to me, quite automatic: while in the lavish apartments and villas of Sorrentino's movie desperation grows like a sunflower in summer, in the much harder situations depicted by Mr. Rosi the people looks to be less prone to self-pity, and more than willing to hope, and trust, and love, and believe - just like if they were in a 19th century romance. Filtered through the eyes and lives of these unbreakable spirits, even the occasional sad moments acquire a bittersweet aftertaste, and become more acceptable: just the negative proofs of the existence of happiness - like pawprints left in the woods by the passage of a wild, legendary beast.

  More

• Nice little portraits.

  punishmentpark2015-08-09

  I didn't feel that this had all too much to do with the Sacro GRA itself. The ambulance worker is the only person in this documentary who is actually seen ón the ring road. The rest of them work or live pretty much beside it, but that's about it. Still, it was interesting enough to watch bits and pieces of all these lives, but I'm not sure what to do with it. The tree surgeon's story seems to comment on some sort of damaging effect of the ring road in terms of environmental abuse, though I'm not sure. Nice little portraits (though the one of the man renting out his villa, was on the boring side), but you'll have to expect no more than that. And the emphasis lies on 'little', by the way - it's rather hard to believe there was no more (interesting) material filmed in the more than two years they spent out there...? 6 out of 10.

  More

• Very Disappointed by this Film

  marysuelyons-964-9719822015-03-22

  I believe my review contains no spoilers unless you consider my view that revealing that to us this was a documentary with no sense its purpose. In that case, don't print it. My husband and I saw it today at an Environmental Film Festival as I generally like Italian films. We were unable to discern what the director wanted to convey with the film. or how it fit with the theme of the film festival. We were introduced to some people who lived near this Sacro GRA but have no idea if these people were a minority, majority or whatever as many people live near it. The man in front of us went to sleep. We had to pay $20 to see it. The theater held 402 people, and there were about 30 people there, if that many. I believe this was the only time this film showed in the Washington DC area. There was no applause after the film.

  More