Monkey Boy

Italy 2009
produced by
Chango Film
directed by Antonio Monti
starring Andrea Melli, Giampiero Bartolini, Giovanna Gardelli, Gianni Fantoni, Letizia Zuffa, Valentina Minzoni, Franco Maione, Massimo Biondi, Gianfranco Boattini, Sandro Briganti, Mario Nicosanti, Francesca Fantini, Daniela Piccari, Pietro Cimatti, Chiara Parodi, Sara Monti, Marco Maltoni, Natalia Casadei, Nicola Casamassima, Massimiliano Bolcioni
story by Antonio Monti, screenply by Antonio Monti, Chiara Parodi, Davide Zagnoli, music by Luca Tozzi, special effects makeup by Carlo Diamantini

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Monkey Boy is the story of beautiful Princess Agata that was given two dices at her mother's death bed, and mum told her to never lose them let something evil happens to her. Of course, eventually an evil wizard steals the dices and uses them as bait to trap her inside a mirror. And only a creature as smart and as foolish as a human to smash the mirror will be able to free her.

But Monkey Boy is also the story about a cop (Giampero Bartolini) and his autistic daughter, Agata (Giovanna Gardelli), a girl who likes to play with dices, and who panics everytime she loses one. Agata can't be left alone for even a few minutes, so when he's called away at night to investigate a murder, our cop hero is more likely than not to drag Agata with him. In his free time, the cop writes a fairy tale, the story of Princess Agata, which he might have just made up inspired by his girl, but which might have been dictated to him from another realm.

Finally, Monkey Boy is of course also the story of Monkey Boy (Andrea Melli), a young man misshapen enough to look like a monkey, which is why his mother has kept him in her basement for years - more to protect him from the outside world than to hide him. Then burglars raid mum's house and kill her, but while Monkey Boy manages to kill the burglars with ease in blind rage, that won't bring his mother back. Now motherless, he roams the countryside, until hiding out near a crimescene (he had killed a no-good pimp beathing around a prostitute) he sets his eyes on Agata playing with her dices, and kidnaps her - not that she puts up any resistance, and truth to be told, he might just be the creature as smart and as foolish as a human to smash the mirror ...

Monkey Boy is a very unusual film as its narrative is build up associatively rather than chronologically, and its story even seems to change over time, always depending on which level of narration you believe the most. And all of this is quite fascinating, actually, as the director knows the labyrinth he has built very well to intentionally send the audience off into the wrong direction time and again, and always leaves plenty of room for alternative interpretations and the like. That said, the film's camerawork with its many handheld sequences does at times get a bit too confusing and confused, to a point where one just doesn't get certain sequences at all. Plus, the mix of rather realist horror and fairy tale might not be for everyone, but those who are willing to take a chance and dive into the rather unique world of this film, it's definitely worth a look.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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