top of page

Poetic Journey: The Mouth Of The Wolf

Mon, Nov 02

|

Epsilon Spires Virtual Cinema

Pietro Marcello’s hauntingly beautiful debut interweaves two love stories: A man newly released from prison makes his way through the city to be reunited with his soulmate, and a poetic reverie of the Italian port town, depicted in all its mysterious, fading glory.

Registration is Closed
See other events
Poetic Journey: The Mouth Of The Wolf
Poetic Journey: The Mouth Of The Wolf

Time & Location

Nov 02, 2020, 3:00 PM – Nov 16, 2020, 12:00 AM

Epsilon Spires Virtual Cinema

About the event

Virtual Cinema Tickets are $10, for 72 hours of access.

WATCH: https://grasshopperfilm.vhx.tv/checkout/epsilon-spires-presents-the-mouth-of-the-wolf/purchase

The Mouth Of The Wolf (La Bocca Del Lupo). Directed by Pietro Marcello (2009).

The common Italian good-luck salute, 'In bocca del lupo' ('The mouth of the wolf') also refers to the poor, red-light neighborhood in Genoa as well as prison windows whose bars block escape. Director Pietro Marcello employs all of these meanings in this film which evokes the novels of Jean Genet. A man newly released from prison makes his way through the city to be with his true love, a trans woman working as a prostitute until they can be together. Voiceover from audio tapes she sent to him during his prison sentence are the guiding voice of his journey. As the film shifts from poetic construction to a stripped-down verité style, the reunion of these two outcasts becomes one the most raw and absolutely poignant portraits of love ever presented in documentary. The mouth of this wolf bites and wounds but it also speaks with deep eloquence of the strength and resilience of the spirit. Winner of major prizes at the Berlin and Turin film festivals, It's depiction of queer romance earned the Teddy Award for Best LGBTQ Documentary-Hybrid. 

Commissioned by the Fondazione San Marcellino, a Jesuit order dedicated to helping Genoa’s poor and marginalized, THE MOUTH OF THE WOLF weaves the couple’s history into a city symphony, scored to bursts of opera, that combines present-day images with stock footage and home movies, some nearly a century old. An archaeology of memory, its shape shifting speaks to the possibilities of narrative, the various ways that a lived reality, or an emotional truth, can be represented.   

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqsJ4pVR9KA

"Jean Genet meets Pedro Costa. A love story with stylistic ingenuity and masterful emotional restraint." 

— Diego Semerene, Slant Magazine

"Critic's Pick! Impressionistic, extravagantly poetic. The Mouth Of The Wolf will haunt you." 

— Stephen Holden, The New York Times

Share this event

bottom of page