This month will see the U.S. release of a highly cerebral Italian/French film, called La Sapienza, about an unhappy couple whose relationship begins to improve when one of them, an award-winning architect, begins studying the work of the inventive baroque master Francesco Borromini. Known for his distinctive geometric designs and corkscrew spire for the Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza church in Rome, the 17th-century Italian architect was a leading figure of his time, but today is not as well known as his rival Gian Lorenzo Bernini, due to his difficult personality and frequent withdrawals from architectural commissions.
La Sapienza, which is directed by the French auteur Eugène Green, is an architectural roadtrip movie with baroque buildings serving alongside actors as the stars. The film begins in the town of Bissone on Lake Lugano, Borromini's birthplace, and then moves on to Guarini's Church of San Lorenzo in Turin, which was influenced by the work of Borromini, and lush shots of the architect's own Sapienza chapel in Rome. La Sapienza will be released in the U.S. on March 20, 2015.
· La Sapienza: A Cinematic Homage To Baroque Master Borromini [Forbes]
Loading comments...