Alcune storie devono essere raccontate

Some stories need to be told…and this is a bit of a rambling, sort of pedantic one.

I got back in touch last week with my friend and filmmaker, Giuseppe Petitto from Rome. It got me thinking about the last time I saw him in 2004 when I spent Christmas and New Years in Italy, thanks to his surprise all-expenses-paid invitation to participate in a documentary film event in his hometown of Catanzaro in the south.

Giuseppe lives and breathes film, and when needed, he supplements this with espresso coffee. He resembles Al Pacino, and moves from deadpan irony to laughter with a bit of a shrug. He accepts the ways of the world with a mixture of brooding and wisdom.

We explored his city one day together, talking about films, ancient Rome, women, and food. We ducked into one of many cathedrals, and with a shrug he pointed to a large Renaissance work of art hanging in an alcove and said, “these were the movies for the people back then.” It was a biblical scene. A man imploring the heavens with his arms thrust upwards, mouth open, a landscape all around him wracked by wind. A moment frozen in time, but full of motion. It was “feature film” dramatic.

I met Giuseppe at International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2000. His film won the top award of the festival. “Jung – War in the the land of the Mujeheddin” was a gutsy film to make, shot in Afghanistan before 9/11 and before the current iteration of Western invasion there. In “Jung,” Giuseppe follows an Italian doctor driven to set up a field hospital in the middle of war-torn Afghanistan. Giuseppe’s philosophy of filmmaking parallels that of Martin Scorcese: there’s a bit of documentary in all drama, and a bit of drama in all documentary. Giuseppe’s doc is quite cinematic. There’s one memorable shot of a war victim spread out on the operating table, looking like Christ from a Renaissance painting.

Later in the evening on our crawl about Rome, we walked by the Trajan Column – a tall single pillar of stone that had been carved in relief to commemorate the story of Emperor Trajan’s success in the Dacian wars. The images spiral down as the story unfolds, like a reel of film spooled out from the top of the column. An early documentary?

I told Giuseppe I found it curiously odd that all over North America our universities have Classics departments teaching the history and literature of the Greeks and Romans. A bit ignorantly, I wondered why people would have such a lasting fascination with these ancient cultures. It makes sense to me to study history of course. But why devote a whole branch of academic discourse to the Greeks and Romans?

And with his shrug and laugh he pointed out that the Greeks and Romans collectively dominated Western culture for 3000 years, and everything that happened in their societies can and will find an echo today. He also pointed out, with a hint of warning, that the Romans enjoyed many years of democracy followed by many years of totalitarian rule. That democracy is always vulnerable. If you study the Greeks and Romans, you don’t take this for granted.

There was something poignant to me about being in Rome at Christmas time in 2004, surrounded by ancient history, a stone’s throw from the Vatican. I’m not a Christian – I don’t go to church and I don’t believe that the story of Christ is a literal history. (For a compelling take on this, check out Tom Harpur’s The Pagan Christ http://www.tomharpur.com/). But I’m fascinated by the imagery of his story and the profound and enduring symbolism there. Whether it’s ancient history carved in stone, or simply allegory and myth retold, it’s worth gazing at images and symbols and reading the whole story behind it all.

From many people, I get the sense that the biblical story of Christmas is just the outdated wallpaper of the season – something that maybe appealed to the grandparents, but it’s so old you just don’t see it anymore. Some even cringe or tune it out. And the season has really been hijacked by the Coca Cola Santa Claus anyway. Or a much more watered down and safe “Happy Holidays.” Do you believe in Santa? Do you believe in Christ? Do you know much about Roman History? Why does this matter anyway? At this time of year, I recommend taking some time to delve into and soak in the stories that still surround us. Good King Wenceslas. The Grinch who stole Christmas. It’s a Wonderful Life. Jesus of Nazareth. And stories from other traditions that look for light in the depth of the calendar’s dark days.

In a time of YouTube videos that are outdated and quickly replaced with the newest hit on Twitter, sometimes it does the soul good to reflect on images and stories that endure.

- Mathew

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