Circus freaks fight Nazi occupiers in Italian director Gabriele Mainetti’s dark fantasy movie Freaks Out, which is competing for the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Set in 1943 Rome, the film tells the story of four circus performers — each with their own peculiar characteristic — left to their own devices when the city is bombarded and their Jewish boss disappears.
The four are a wolfman, a dwarf who attracts iron like a magnet, an electric girl who gives shocks to anyone touching her and an insect-taming albino.
They end up in a rival circus run by Franz, a frustrated Nazi with six-fingered hands who can predict the future and wants to use their superpowers to help prevent Adolph Hitler’s demise.
Freaks Out is Mainetti’s second film after his well-received, offbeat 2015 superhero movie They Call Me Jeeg, and took longer and more money to make than originally expected, partly because of the strong visual effects.
In production notes, he wrote that his latest work was at once an adventure story, a coming-of-age tale and a reflection on diversity.
“We were drawn to the idea of mixing together freaks with a strongly conflictual element such as the Nazis,” Mainetti told reporters after a screening on Wednesday.
“The characters are frightened and cowardly at first, but then they manage to bring out the best of themselves — and that’s their real superpower,” Mainetti said.
Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera said that the film has echoes of the works of two Italian cinema greats: Federico Fellini and Sergio Leone.
However, Mainetti also drew inspiration from Tod Browning’s 1932 horror movie Freaks and 1939 musical The Wizard of Oz.
German actor Franz Rogowski stars as the Nazi pianist turned circus manager, alongside Italy’s Claudio Santamaria, whose hirsute wolfman Fulvio looks like Star Wars’ Chewbacca, and newcomer Aurora Giovinazzo playing electric girl Matilde.
Freaks Out is one of five Italian movies vying for the Golden Lion award in the 21-film lineup at this year’s festival, which ends on Saturday.
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