The lord of the ants by Gianni Amelio, strengths and weaknesses

The title, decided by Amelio from the beginning, refers to the protagonist’s passion for ants, which he collected and kept in glass cases and whose behaviors he studied.

The first part of the film is a long flashback. After witnessing the break-in of Edoardo’s mother and brother in the pension where he and Aldo lived in Rome, we go back to find out how their first meeting and the birth of their relationship took place.

Then, with a new leap forward, the film puts on stage the trial, the reactions of the media and public opinion, the mobilization against the trial of intellectuals and young activists. And the fate of Edoardo, the saddest of all, who at the behest of his family was interned in a psychiatric hospital where he was also subjected to electroshock to cure his “illness”.

In the role of Braibanti, Amelio wanted Luigi Lo Cascio, while for that of Edoardo he chose Leonardo Maltese, in his debut. But if the two of them are the protagonists of what, in the end, is a love story, to frame the story from a historical and social point of view, the director has created other accompanying characters: Ennio, the journalist of the newspaper Unity (Elio Germano) who takes the case to heart and tries to help Braibanti with his articles, even within the limits of the censorship that is imposed on him, and his cousin Graziella (Sara Serraiocco)an activist in the pro Braibanti opinion movement.