The Spring of My Life

This comedy is the more or less autobiographical story of two friends who, after three years of silence, find themselves again on a journey together that will lead them to break the chains of materialism and "cut the dry branches" towards better self-knowledge, a goal which is also expressed in some songs composed in real life by the two singers.

The starting point is "acceptance-contamination": on the one hand, Antonio (Di Martino), tired of the music business and recovering from a serious accident, joins the Order of Semeniti, while on the other hand, Lorenzo (Colapesce), animated by great initiative, remains in Milan, but, in order to survive in that cage of lions, he develops a very cynical vision of life. The title of the film, then, is very evocative, since from here a real rebirth can start, with a double face: a personal rebirth, which in Lorenzo is divided into three precise stages (friendship, love, family) but remains internal while in Antonio it also becomes physical, and a collective one, that is linked to the relationship between the two, sealed in the emblematic final scene in which one becomes "nourishment" of the other, although without removing the omnipresent veil of irony and lightness.

This film can also be defined as a road movie, as the plot originates from the charge of Semeniti of writing a book on the legendary places in Sicily, which, in reality, will prove to be a lie, given that the real reason is much more noble, i.e. The reconciliation with nature: it consists of a journey that has rarely been beaten in the history of cinema aboard an orange Ford, so it's a surreal and psychedelic, almost dreamlike, setting that generates a sense of loss, also thanks to the intervention of bizarre characters, and featured by a slow timing, through fixed scenes that nail the observer with the aim of making him reflect on the essentiality, but at the same time, on the beauty of life.

Specifically, the reunion of the two protagonists takes place in front of the fresco of the Triumph of Death, kept in Palazzo Abatellis, in Palermo: in a sort of premonition of the end of this friendship, Death, depicted with a skeleton on horseback, kills the aristocrats who are joyfully partying, but also figures of power such as the pope or the emperor, while lets the weaker social classes live, but also the artists, therefore it represents a message of enhancement of art but also of hope because it makes an unavoidable moment of life something almost lively.

Then, regarding Lorenzo's inner path, there are 3 stages, as anticipated: 1. Grotta dei Giganti: in reality it's the Hypogeum of Piazza Duomo, in Syracuse, which is an underground connection between Ortigia and the Foro Italico and once a place of refuge; 2. Isola Cornuta: its real name is Alicudi, an island in the Aeolian archipelago, whose nickname is linked to the episode of the early XX century in which the inhabitants of this island had hallucinations after having ingested the bread made of flour obtained from ergot; anyway, it's a wild territory, where nature is the protagonist with breathtaking views, which become the background of Lorenzo's mental journey into his past, but also the performance of Madame, whose song gives the the title to the film.

3. Etna: symbol par excellence of Sicily, it's chosen as last stop.

Among the other noteworthy locations, Sant'Alfano Bridge appears, which is situated in the province of Syracuse and it's built with a light-colored stone that detaches but at the same time blends with the surrounding area, generating a feeling of amazement as well as figurative connection between the characters. In addition to the La Timpa Nature Reserve, in Acireale, or timeless villages, such as Aci Trezza and Aci Sant'Antonio, the frame with the greatest impact is perhaps Simeto Valley: nicknamed Calanchi Desert, it's the only place already known thanks to the setting of The Gospel according to St. Matthew by Pier Paolo Pasolini or other famous movies and it's a group of arid and uninhabited hills which recall Arizona but that is actually located between Erei Mountains and Etna.

Finally, all credit to the scenography department, headed by Monica Vittucci, for building the restaurant L'astice fuggente, from which comes to life an image of the island far from stereotypes (if not for the appearance of an arancino in another scene) and capable of denouncing clichés: during a fish-based lunch, a robbery takes place but it turns out to be staged by the owner of the place, whose desire was making his customers live "a typical Sicilian experience", alluding to the mafia; interesting is, above all, the reaction of Antonio and Lorenzo, who, as other times, let the scene and the subsequent silence speak for them.