Displaying items by tag: Umberto Orsini

TRIFOLE/ TRUFFLES

Italy, 2025, 100 minutes, Colour.

Ydalie Turk, Umberto Orsini, Margherita Buy.

Directed by Gabriele Fabbro.

For those for whom Italy is the old country, and for those who have spent some time living in Italy, Trifole will provide a great deal of nostalgia, especially for living in or visits to the Italian countryside. The location for this film is Piedmont, the forests and vineyards, the city of Alba.

And, response to the film may be in proportion to the response to truffles, experience of them or not, not quite knowing what they are and how prized they can be, especially by chefs, rare truffles, expensive truffles… But, audiences do learn quite a bit about where they are to be found, the search for them, digging in roots of trees, a surprise fungus (and odour).

But, this is the story of Dalia, a young woman who has moved away from Italy to London to study and write, a sense of failure, returning to look after her grandfather who lives alone, his memory beginning to fail him, always on the search for a prized truffle. Dalia is played by Ydalie Turk, South African background, who co-wrote the screenplay with the director, Gabriele Fabbro. Veteran Umberto Orsini is Igor. He turned 90 the year the film was completed.

Dalia finds it difficult with her grandfather who does not remember her, phone calls from her mother, a nurse, concerned about her father and his future. And, he has not been paying the rent so there is the threat of eviction.

It should be said that the third billing for the film is actually Birba. And, Birba is one of the nicest dogs to appear on screen, very important for the plot, charming even those in the audience who are not dog lovers.

The first part of the film is Dalia getting to know her grandfather, her concern and her going out with Birba to forage and to find the desired truffle. A mixture of success and failure.

The second part of the film has Dalia going to the city of Alba, finding it in the middle of a pageant, one of those Italian occasions where everyone dresses up in lavish costumes, re-creating history, musicians, dancing, and this time the competitive festival of the truffles.

With Igor and his failing memory, his age, and Dalia and her sense of failure, hoping for some betterment of her life, there is a melancholy tone in the storytelling. 

[This reviewer, feeling rather invert about truffles, decided to do some research and found the following – especially the nutritional and health supporting value of truffles:

Truffles are expensive because they are so hard to cultivate, and in the wild, they are difficult to find. Truffles are delicate and only grow in very specific conditions, they take years to yield edible fruit and all the effort, expense and time it takes to bring them to harvest makes them an expensive food to produce.

What is the nutritional breakdown of truffles?

Truffles are low calories, low fat, low salt and have no cholesterol. They provide an enormous amount of dietary fiber, protein, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin B-6, calcium, iron, and magnesium.]

1. The status of truffles, rare, health benefits, expensive? An Italian tradition?
2. A visit to northern Italy, the city of Alba, the Italian countryside, forests, vineyards, old houses in the countryside, ruins? The musical score?
3. The opening, the audience arriving with Dalia, her walking from the station, the town of the countryside, the vineyards, the house, her calling for her grandfather? Her back story, relationship with her mother, her mother a nurse, her going to London, studying, wanting to be a writer, her speaking English, limited Italian? Leaving London, going to find her grandfather?
4. Igor, Umberto Orsini and his performance, turning 90 the year of its completion? Widower, living alone, simple, his love for truffles, his searching? His love for his dog, Birba and her continued presence throughout the film, audience response to Birba, likeable and attractive? Igor and his memory diminishing, not remembering Dalia? The phone calls with his daughter?
5. Dalia, to care for her grandfather, settling in, awkwardness, acceptance, meals, conversations? And the problem of his not paying the rent, the threat of taking over his house? His wanting to stay, his resentment of the vineyards and the destruction of the forests, with the truffles?
6. Igor, lost in the forest, Dalia bringing him home? Her decision to search for truffles, to find a record-breaking white truffle, going out with Birba, the difficulties, the forest, Birba and the various searches, ultimately finding the prize truffle?
7. The night, the ruins, the frescoes, hearing the gun shots? The Hunter, the pheasant, giving Birba poisoned meat, stealing the bag and the truffle?
8. The aftermath, the effect on Dalia, wandering the forest, at the river, wanting help but the man thinking she was the forest which? The background of the mythology and Igor and lightning, storms, his book and sketches for truffles, land layouts, Dalia studying this?
9. The town, the feast for the celebration of the truffles, the crowds, the pageantry and costumes, processions, the truffles on display, the judgements, prices? Dalia, bewildered, becoming part of the procession, dressed as one of the princesses, the jealous rival, her fainting, carrying the prized truffle, the pursuit, lost in the corridor?
10. Her return home, her mother present, packing, going to tell her grandfather what had happened, bringing him a small truffle, his delight, shredding it for the meal?
11. Moving out, the machinery coming in to demolish the house? Having to move away, the future? A melancholy story and a melancholy ending?