Reality and invention, documentary and fiction, the lines that divide those different concepts get completely blurred in this unorthodox film made by the brothers Taviani, where real-life inmates prepare a theatrical production of William Shakespeare’s classic “Julius Caesar”.

Every aspect of the misè-en-scene of the piece is perfectly well thought, carefully tying up the true feelings and events occurred and occurring in the lives of the protagonists with the text written by Shakespeare more than 400 hundred years prior. The incredible fluidity of those scenes makes you really wonder if sometimes what you are seeing are real reactions or actual fictionalized snippets inserted by the directors and acted out by the inmates.

At the same time, when it comes to the actual presentation of the piece it is incredibly well crafted. The use of colour to signify freedom, being reached through displaying the actual external world or being the feeling achieved through art is one of those aspects.

The other, the fact that what it is supposed to be the rehearsal, it is the actual movie, and when it is said movie it means MOVIE, no “boring” table reads, not alone times with the script, no incessant interruptions by the director of the representation, but a true and actual performance, just that in this particular case constrained to the limitations of being in jail. Near to non-costumes (except for when the actual theatrical performance in front of familiars is done), rooms, cells, patio, corridors, and various other spaces of the prison used as sets, etc.

Then, it is also worth-mentioning that the acting from the convicts it is in fact overall really solid. And specially the three main ones, Cosimo Rega who plays Cassio, Giovanni Arcuri as Cesare, and Salvatore Striano (who is an actual professional actor) playing Bruto deliver splendid performances in their respective roles.

Finally, praise has to be given to an impeccable score. The melody that accompanies the film might be simple and it might repeat itself several times, but the emotions of both melancholy and hope that it conveys are so well suited to what the screen shows you that it could not be any better.

In definitive, an absolute little gem that shows how the power of art can reached into the most incredible depths and externalize the humanity of those so-called “most inhumane” members of our society and let them break out of their four-walled cells. Therefore, a movie that cannot be missed, but not only because of those sociological reasons but also due to its serenity and mastery in its production.