La Sapienza

(Eugène Green, France/Italy 2014, 100 min., DCP, French & Italian w/subtitles)

Eugène Green | Rochester Premiere. At the height of his career, architect Alexandre sets off for Italy with the idea of completing his draft—interrupted years earlier—of a book on architect Francesco Borromini. He is accompanied by his wife Alienor, who feels her relationship with her husband gradually slipping away along with the passion it used to inspire. During their journey, they meet siblings Goffredo and Lavinia; the former is about to embark in architectural studies, the latter is suffering from a nervous disorder. Alienor feels the need to stay by Lavinia’s side to help her overcome her anxiety and suggests that her husband continue on his travels with Goffredo.

“The unresolvable tension between logic and feeling animates Eugène Green’s La Sapienza, an exquisite rumination on life, love and art that tickles the heart and mind in equal measure. The fifth feature by the American-born, Paris-based Green compromises none of the filmmaker’s willful esoterica as it charts the intersecting fates of four present-day characters transformed by the work of two 17th-century artistic giants: the Swiss-Italian architect Francesco Borromini and the French playwright Molière.” – Scott Foundas, Variety