THE proposition in writer/director Edoardo Maria Falcone’s film is that authoritarian Tommaso (Marco Giallini), appalled by his son Andrea’s (Enrico Oetiker) announcement of his intention to enter the priesthood and abandon the career as a cardiac surgeon that Tommaso plans for him, decides to confront the charismatic priest Don Pietro (Alessandro Gassman) about his influence over the young man.

Falcone presents this serious issue as comedy. As such, it has been successful in Italy. Audiences at the Italian Film Festival in Australia lapped it up. Its humour overlies a somewhat more serious issue. The title implies the omnipotence of a deity. The plot examines both sides of that thesis and finds an agreeable equality that, after it comes to dramatic resolution, leaves us uncertain which of its conflicting paths the story was taking yet satisfied that either suits our personal view.

So see the film and take comfort from its comedy, its even-handedness about whether belief or scepticism provides the better explanation for the inexplicable and its optimism about choice in that regard. At its core, it’s an exploration of Tommaso discovering a humanity that will comfort those whose lives come within his ambit while leading us to laughter in the process.

At Palace Electric

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