Gabriele Fabbro’s earnest family drama transports viewers to Italy’s pastoral Piedmont region as a young English woman attempts to reconnect with her rapidly declining Italian grandfather. It all moves along on its expected trajectory until around the hour mark, when a shocking twist sets up a final act completely out of step with the rest of the film. While the whiplash change makes for a more interesting project, it also exposes the risks of Fabbro’s experimental writing process that began with no clear destination in mind.
Buy TrifoleWorking in conjunction with co-writer and eventual star Ydalie Turk, Fabbro embedded himself in the Piedmont region in search of plot inspiration. Seizing upon the tales of aging truffle hunters in the area, the pair developed the story of a dementia-addled old man named Igor (Umberto Orsini) and his trusty truffle-hunting dog puttering around their decaying, rural villa surrounded by vineyards. As a lifetime truffle hunter, Igor is disgusted by the deforestation caused by the wine industry, but still holding out hope of finding a massive miracle truffle in the vastly diminished woods near his home.
When Igor’s directionless granddaughter Dalia arrives from London to care for him, the pair struggle to reconnect after many years apart, with a significant language barrier as well as Igor’s questionable mental acuity standing in their way. Of course they bond over truffle hunting, with Igor racing to impart his wisdom and perhaps some purpose to his wayward descendant before his light dims forever. As clearly set up and expected, there is a monster truffle out there, but its discovery by Dalia and the dog also marks the end of business as usual.
What began as a touching two-hander/one-pawer morphs into a weird heist story involving the massive truffle, a prestigious festival and auction, and Dalia’s solo attempts to save the day. It’s so out of character with the preceding hour that I watched in stunned disbelief of the total tonal shift, making for a riveting if not exactly rewarding experience.
It’s only thanks to the superb early groundwork laid by Orsini and Turk that the film as a whole remains commendable, with the ailing elder storyline so achingly touching and so powerfully relatable to the majority of viewers who have experienced similar familial situations. Perhaps Fabbro should consider outlining a clearly defined destination in advance of his next film’s pre-production process. He clearly has the skills to develop a meaningful narrative, and his team’s technical proficiencies make for a beautifully shot film, they just need to work on sticking the landing.
The Blu-ray includes a surprisingly robust selection of bonus features, including plenty of candid behind-the-scenes portrait-formatted footage seemingly shot more for the ‘Gram than for widescreen preservation. There’s also a peek into the studio for the orchestral score recording session, as well as a very brief interview with the veteran Orsini and far more expansive and informative interviews with Fabbro and Turk. Fabbro sheds some light on his head-scratching story by detailing his writing process, revealing his ties to and fondness for the Piedmont region. While his movie is mostly heartfelt, and his wild plot swing adds a unique stamp, its disjointed nature detracts from the film’s overall strength powered by familial ties.
