RECORDING

A couple decides to record their sexual relations with a video camera. But what initially is only an erotic game soon turns into a slow and bloody form of extortion. How many of you have at least thought about the possibility of recording your erotic feats so you can watch them, secretly or as a couple, your own personal homemade hard film of which you are the protagonists? Well, surely it is not a rare thought, an extreme form of voyeurism and participatory that in recent years has also made the fortune of many exhibitionist couples and web portals that profit from amateur porn. But what if the amateur porn video became a pretext for a terrible story of blood, revenge, and jealousy? It is precisely from this short circuit that Stefano Rossi takes inspiration for his new short film, "Recording", scripted by Lorenzo Paviano - with whom he had already teamed up in the previous "Le 2 scimmie" - and based on the story "Metamorfosi" by Lavinia Pini. Rossi and company's intent is evident from the very first images that include a leg cleanly severed with an axe, namely to shock the viewer with an extreme story that consistently uses extreme images. The nerve center of "Recording", in fact, is precisely that impact of disgust mixed with fascination that it manages to arouse in the viewer, that "gut" input that it transmits, unleashing impulses related to sex, blood. It is pure and simple aesthetics of violence, an apology for the flesh, already anticipated in the previous short film "Le 2 scimmie" and here brought to those extreme consequences that can be allowed by taking advantage of a more experienced and, consequently, professional technical/artistic department. In fact, "Recording" benefits from professionals in the field who certainly provide a fundamental contribution to the success of the short film. The beautiful and realistic special effects are handled by Tiziano Martella and Luigi D'Andrea, known in the field of Italian special effects for having worked - among many - on "Zombie Massacre" and "Tulpa", who here particularly enjoy creating a severed leg of those that at first glance make you ask "but how the devil did they do that?". The beautiful photography is by Mirco Sgarzi ("House of Flesh Mannequins", "Mad in Italy") and plays with gray and rust tones to give a sense of unhealthiness, sometimes interrupted by bright red and green colorations that emerge from the background, typical of certain 70s cinema. But scrolling through the credits you can also spot the names of Raffaele Picchio, director of the cult "Morituris" here as assistant director, and Luca Boni, co-director of "Eaters" and "Zombie Massacre" and here colorist. The feeling that "Recording" leaves in those who watch it is absolutely positive - provided that you are fans of gore and torture, of course - and this sadistic game manages to overlook a narrative structure that perhaps would have needed a different development, perhaps more complex and careful to explain the "hows" and "whys" of the case. The morbidity, violence, and disgust emerge perfectly, but the dynamics between the characters remain stifled, probably also due to the too brief duration of the whole (about ten minutes). Worth mentioning is the presence in the cast of the former hard actor Francesco Malcom, now consecrated as an icon of Italian independent horror, and the same Lavinia Pini, author of the subject. A mini torture-porn definitely worth seeing.