Talking Tribeca: Human Capital

I’ve had the pleasure this year of screening a number of selections from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, which takes place April 16th-27th.

Human Capital
Directed by Paolo Virzi
Festival Screenings

Stories told in chapters can often be irritating, and the creative format can merely be a mask for a subpar narrative. Yet that’s far from the case in “Human Capital,” the Italian film from Paolo Virzi screening at Tribeca, which hones in on three equally lonely and misunderstood people, one at a time. The overeager Dino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) has no self-awareness, and his attempt to cash in big on a hedge fund find him furiously scrambling to come up for air. The idealistic Carla (Valeria Tedeschi) is completely invisible to her businessman husband and finds her artistic desires sidelined in favor of profitability. Dino’s daughter Serena (Matilde Gioli), who links the two characters due to her relationship with Carla’s son Massimiliano, exists in a different universe from her friends at school, unconcerned with their interests and much more willing to accept other viewpoints. All three stories are equally compelling, and when woven together make for an enticing film that feels fresh each time new information is added.

See it or skip it? See it if you’re okay with subtitles and like this kind of structure.