Human Capital
A night of celebration, the end of term high school gala in the snowy days in the lead up to Christmas attended by financier Giovanni Bernaschi, his wife Carla, on the board of directors of the local theatre undergoing refurbishment, their son Massimiliano nominated for the prize to be announced beside his girlfriend Serena, across from them her estate agent father Dino Ossola his girlfriend Roberta Morelli, all smiling faces while the harried catering staff dash between the tables.
The night ending, the waiters clean up and go their separate ways, Fabrizio making his way home on his bicycle when he is forced off the road by a passing vehicle, the police arriving the next morning to interview the children of both the Bernaschi and Ossola families, to piece together the events of the previous evening even as Fabrizio’s weeping wife waits by his bedside in intensive care.
Set in the far north of Italy and based on the novel of the same name by Stephen Amidon, Human Capital (Il capitale umano) is directed by Paolo Virzì, a tangle of lies, deceptions, and betrayals told from the perspective of three characters, Dino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), so desperate to invest with Giovanni (Fabrizio Gifuni) that he will lie about his financial situation, Carla (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), gifted with money and time but bereft or purpose, and Serena (Matilde Gioli).
Trying to do the right thing when surrounded by adults more guided by opportunity than morality, she is by far the most sympathetic character, judging with her heart rather than calculating what advantage can be gained and thrown into a terrible situation which has arisen because she tried to do the right thing and with no one to turn to, one of the few who knows precisely what happened but aware of the consequences if she confesses.
The beauty of the houses and their surrounding scenery, filled with art and closets of designer clothes at odds with the selfish nature of the characters, the obsequious Dino particularly odious as he uses his daughter to inveigle his way into the circle of socialites, seeking their favour and dismissing the obligations of Roberta’s advanced pregnancy, he finds acceptance into the upper classes cannot simply be bought though he will not be the one of whom a sacrifice is required.
Engaging throughout, Human Capital is a drama of ambition and the bottomless emptiness it cannot fill in a life of shallow need and want, of those who have sufficient but still want more while remaining oblivious to those around them who have nothing, the tragic meaning of the title pertinent and defining the themes of film but not revealed until the final moments, too late to prevent the damage or learn the value of all that has been lost.
Human Capital is available on Arrow now
