AGONIA

A girl, after accompanying a friend home, drives alone on a lonely country road until a man lying on the ground forces her to stop. The girl gets out of the car and tries to help the man, who turns out to be an armed troublemaker with an axe. The girl flees: the hunt has just begun! "Agonia" represents a double turning point for filmmaker Stefano Visintin: on the one hand narrative, on the other technical. The previous works of the Lombard director were oriented towards exploring the dynamics that bring out the darkest side of the human mind, psychological horrors that slithered between original ideas and clichés of a certain independent cinema, but always respecting a basic narrative skill. "Agonia" breaks a bit of this trademark and brings to the stage a more physical but also more banal story. In the Italian underground, often characterized by pseudo-intellectual works, there is a need for these incursions into more bloody and visceral horror, made of action and gore violence; however, despite the timing of the short film often not allowing narrative articulation, it would be advisable to avoid the mistake of telling a story – and entering the plane of the tangible – without having a "strong" idea to rely on. Unfortunately, "Agonia" has this flaw. In just ten minutes, a bit of the survival horror imagination is plundered by putting together a forest, a girl in danger, and a psychopathic redneck with a look vaguely similar to the restyling Rob Zombie did on Michael Myers. The result is very "cool," it must be recognized, and the fast pace is a great asset that adds value to the work, but from an independent product, perhaps a bit more inventiveness could be expected. Furthermore, it must be added that the attempt to dilute the story with the almost dreamlike passage of the friar seems a bit intrusive and partly succeeds in breaking the mounting tension that had nevertheless been created. But if Visintin has taken a small step back in terms of content (the previous psycho-dimensional-conspiracy delusions of the diptych "Dimensioni" were notable), he has taken two steps forward in terms of the technical aspect. Complicated also by the variety of locations, since most of the action takes place outdoors, Visintin manages to provide an excellent directorial performance that allows "playing" with the shots of decidedly broader and more imaginative breath than can be done within four walls. Something more could have been done with the musical theme. In short, "Agonia" is a demonstration of the growth of Visintin's technical skills who, from film to film, always improves his contribution behind the camera. Surely, the story told is not one of the best, presenting itself a bit like a typical situation extracted from a survival horror like there are many. Greater care of the subject could have made "Agonia" the best work of the director, but it settles on sufficiency nonetheless.