VITRIOL

Lola Verdis is writing a master's thesis in architecture on the correlations between constructions and Masonic symbolism in the Bourbon-era buildings of Naples. The discovery of a mysterious object in the basement of a building will lead her to the discovery of an ancient esoteric order, the Osiridean Egyptian Order. From this moment on, Lola and her friend and collaborator Davide will be in great danger because they have touched a secret too big. Thanks to her handycam, Lola will document all the phases of the research. What a singular project this "Vitriol" is, an anomalous mockumentary that addresses an original topic and far from those usually tackled in Italian cinema, namely esoteric archaeology and alchemy. "Vitriol" is an acronym for the Latin phrase "Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem Veram Medicinam," which means "Visit the interior of the earth and by rectifying you will find the hidden stone that is the true medicine," an alchemical expression that invites a inner search and, ambiguously, provides coordinates that lead to a truth that could change the course of knowledge. Derived from a real documentary research never completed, "Vitriol" uses the language of the mockumentary to take us on this adventure in esoteric and mysterious Naples. The film, which marks the debut of the Neapolitan Francesco Afro De Falco in feature films, however, benefits from the mockumentary language in a different way from usual. First, there is an admission of intent that is never found in these operations, since a caption at the beginning of the film informs us that we are watching a mockumentary based on real research, thus revealing the trick even before the start of the game. Then "Vitriol" develops on three linguistic levels: some (few) scenes recovered from the original true documentary (with blurred faces and altered voices), the research of the protagonist filmed as a mockumentary in P.O.V. (which occupies the largest portion of the film) and scenes of pure fiction with the same actors, shot with the traditional film technique in third person. It is a strange use that De Falco makes of the fake documentary, perhaps also a bit unpopular, that at times breaks that magic and that identification that this language often manages to create. Appreciable, however, this experimental path in a way of making cinema in recent years too abused. The screenplay, written by Giovanni Mazzitelli, finds the right compromise between simplicity and depth, since it deals with rather arduous subjects for those who are not experts in the matter but with a language understandable to everyone. It must be said, however, that some mysteries and some issues raised during the film do not always find a conclusion and at times there is the sensation that one had to proceed with too much speed and superficiality. The dialogues are not always convincing, but the two young leading actors - Roberta Astuti and Yuri Napoli - are good and hold the scene well. "Vitriol" is also a cross-genre film because it starts as a horror-mystery (the disappearance of a person, a sect and underground horrors) to then develop as an investigative/archaeological film of the type "The Da Vinci Code," until it transforms in the last part into an adventurous one that recalls the video games of the "Uncharted" series rather than the various "Indiana Jones." In the interesting development, Mazzitelli and De Falco manage to put in a lot, perhaps too much, with Masonic societies, alchemy, the myth of Arcadia and perhaps even extraterrestrial civilizations. In the end, the mix works and the film succeeds in capturing. Produced and distributed by the independent Salvatore Mignano Communication, "Vitriol" is a curious experiment worth seeing.