The Souls of Naples
Directed by Vincent Monnikendam
Reviewed by Catherine MacLennan
The Souls of Naples (Zielen van Naples) opens with an aerial shot of Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano just a few miles away from Naples, a volcano that appears to overlook the city. The camera hovers over and peers into the reddish crater of the volcano while a voice sings: “my fate lies in your hands” and “you are a purgatory for all these people.”
Wanting to expose a Naples that is often not seen, Director Vincent Monnikendam focuses on the purgatory of the back alleys, the basement apartments, the poor people - the many faces of the “other” Naples. There are women gossiping about a neighborhood suicide; there is a sad feminello (“my life is full of trouble and sorrow”) who ekes out a living selling “tombola” lottery tickets for a basket of food; the lined faces of old men in the street; an old woman who talks about getting together with a man once his ill wife dies; the angry frustrated people who say the poor are treated like the plague and complain about the new immigrant arrivals (one of whom is smiling nervously as he hears this remark - earlier he and his friends were seen singing and joking in their apartment, suitcases still visible and piled high in their cramped quarters). Worse than all the cramped quarters shown are a group of people living outside under an overpass with planks of wood acting as a shelter.
The Pio Monte della Misericordia society was founded by the aristocrats of Naples to perform acts of charity for the poor. One of its current members, in a home filled with antiques, paintings and swords, speaks with pride about his ancestors and the history of Naples. Speaking of the charity’s place in history he stands before Caravaggio’s The Seven Acts of Mercy, a 1606 commission for the founders of the Pio Monte della Misericordia. He is in awe of how Caravaggio’s work, has “perfectly portrayed all seven acts of mercy” (which are: feeding the hungry, visiting prisoners, clothing the naked, offering hospitality to pilgrims, giving drink to the thirsty, caring for the sick and burying the dead). He says his father told him people with money cannot just enjoy privileges but they have to help the poor as well.
The present leaders of the charity, old men in suits, gather around a table to discuss which projects to fund. One is later seen dealing directly with a potential case - a woman who is ill, whose husband is unemployed, who is looking after her dead sisters’ children, who has come to ‘”beg” for money for medicine. He says they will take care of it. Later, he is in the crowd at a masked society soiree featuring the well-dressed, well coiffed rich dancing, surrealistically, in masks and costumes. The Pio Monte della Misericordia performs acts of charity but it is in a world where the lines between rich and poor are clearly defined.
“We are stuck here,” says one. Another curses the Euro, says it is worthless and doesn’t know why it is in needed when she is in Naples. They are unhappy with their situation yet there is resignation. A bearded newspaperman is the wise man of the movie, commenting on the “confused and complicated city.” He says they invited writers to write about Naples after the 1980 earthquake. James Baldwin said; “I’m sorry but I don’t understand a single thing about this city. I can’t write anything about it.” The bearded editor added: “That was the best unpublished article about Naples.”
There are snippets of the still more Neopolitans – cars and scooters fighting for space on the street; a bustling discotheque; a protest march for jobs; a painter happy to be there and thinking about Carrivaggio when she paints. Monnikendam has piqued the viewer’s interest - as the camera floats above the roofs of Naples and you wonder who else lives there.
October 2005 - The Lamp