Le Quattro Volte

Great pyjamas!

I thought it was wonderful storytelling although I didn't get the philosophical references at the time.

Here's an interesting fact:
The scene which covers all the events from the arrival of the costumed processioners  through the procession, the dog's barking and chasing, the destruction of the gate and escape of the goats was all filmed in a single 8-minute shot, the camera tracking up and down the road to follow the action. Whether that's necessary I wouldn't know – I certainly wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't read it somewhere – but you have to admire it. They had to shoot it 21 times. (In fact, the whole film took 5 years).

Apparently, Le Quattro Volte translates as “The Four Times” and refers to Pythagoras's belief that souls live four times. Human, animal, vegetable and mineral. (Metempsychosis = transmigration of the soul).

Wikipedia explains:

“The film comprises four phases or 'turns' following Pythagoras. ...

• The first turn is the human realm and is about an old goatherd who is quite sick and who takes medicine from the dust from the church floor in water at night.... 
• The second turn is the animal realm and is a study of a young goat, from its birth onwards. 
• The third turn is the plant realm and is a study of a fir tree. Eventually the tree is chopped down to be displayed in the town square and an evocation of cultural memory. 
• The fourth turn shows the mineral realm as the tree is made into charcoal for the townspeople's fires.”

So there. It's all about the square on the hypotenuse. Or maybe Twenty Questions.

I also tracked down the distributors' press briefing which explains the film to the reviewers so they know what to explain to us readers. It has a short synopsis and a long one. Here's the short one:

“LeQuattro Volte is a poetic vision of the revolving cycles of life and nature and the unbroken traditions of a timeless place, the story of one soul that moves through four successive lives. 

An old shepherd lives his last days in a quiet medieval village perched high on the hills of Calabria, at the southernmost tip of Italy. He herds goats under skies that most villagers have deserted long ago. He is sick, and believes to find his medicine in the dust he collects on the church floor,which he drinks in his water every day. A new goat kid is born. We follow its first few tentative steps, its first games, until it gains strength and goes to pasture. Nearby, a majestic fir tree stirs in the mountain breeze and slowly changes through the seasons. The tree now lies on the ground. It has been reduced to its own skeleton, and is transformed into wood coal through the ancestral work of the local coal makers. Our sight gets lost in the ashes' smoke.”

If you want to see the long synopsis or read the Wikipedia entry in full you can find the hyperlinks below.

My interpretation of the film's meaning was as follows:

Goats make kebabs
Trees make charcoal
Therefore trees + goats = barbecue.
Just add Chianti, bread and salad.
Transmogrification of the soul...
QED

Why did the goatherd tie a rope around the goat's head? I wondered that too. I found this on IMDB:

“The kid's mouth has been tied to avoid milking WHILE grazing.
The goats have a complicated digestive system, so they need to be 100% on feeding themselves before feeding the kids.”

The feedback score was a miserly 67%.
Your comments:

A	An absolutely charming film in which the absence of dialogue made the atmosphere so very powerful. Loved it!
A	A very beautiful film. It would be worth watching again. Engaging & immersive. – And the dog and the kid-goat were wonderful!
A	Very painterly
A	Beautiful film – so well done.
B	The cycle of life – a gentle film.
B	Beguiling story with subtle links between scenes – enjoyable 90 mins.
B	A picture of life without the welfare state! A story well told without words. Would watch again knowing so much more to see.
B	Even in an Italian mountain village life can't be as slow as this but nevertheless it was gripping & photography amazing.
B	Really interesting film
B	Slow moving and near tragic. Reflected the cycles of life in a village where very little happens.
B	Beautiful scenes.
B	Too mysterious. Could do with introduction.
B	Intriguing! 4 deaths – I felt very sorry for the kid. Much of the story was obscure.
B	Great acting by the goats!
B
C	Enjoyed the filming. Too abstract and disjointed for me. Great acting by the goats.
C	Appreciated the photography and the imagery but the overall concept was lost on me.
C	Good looking film, nice pace, though a bit sad.
C	The goats were the stars! Nice film but I prefer more plot.
C	Good for the scenic photography – other than that no idea, you could make it fit a number/all sorts of storylines.
C	An interesting portrait of rural Italy and the way of life.
C	Beautifully photographed – refreshing to have only natural sounds and noises as the soundtrack.
C
C	Good photography. A slice of life, & death!
D	GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY. PLOT TOO COMPLICATED
D	SEEMED LIKE A DOCUMENTARY ON RURAL LIFE – FELT IT NEEDED SOME KIND OF COMMENTARY – PERHAPS I MISSED THE POINT IF THERE WAS ONE!
D	Interesting film on life in poor village in Italy. Scenery was very good.
D	Pointless unconnected visuals
E	It was very boring. Prefer films with dialogue
E	Could hardly contain myself re the excitement. Has put me off goats cheese for life.
U	Beautiful to look at, didn't feel involved – way of life unchanged but didn't find this comforting.
U	It does affect me but I'm not sure why. Hard to give an immediate response. Unable to give a rating.

On-line:
IMDB user rating 7.1 out of 10:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646975/

Rotten Tomatoes audience rating 73%:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_four_times/

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Quattro_Volte

Press release (pdf):
http://www.kino.com/press/pdfs/lqv_pressbook.pdf

Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian “A precise, subtle and masterful example of art film from Italy” (4 stars) :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/may/26/le-quattro-volte-review

Jonathan Romney in The Independent says “Le Quattro Volte is, quite simply, a maa-sterpiece”:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/le-quattro-volte-michelangelo-frammartino-88-mins-u-2290345.html