Movie Review | A rare five-star film about truffle hunters: “Brilliant, delightful and a champion almost to perfection”

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Truffle hunters in Piedmont. Directed and written by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw. Produced by Luca Guadagnino. 84 min. ★★★★★

Just a brilliant, gratifying and, to the right extent, melancholy film. Truffle hunters in Piedmont is a champion, almost to perfection.

The film begins with a slow zoom into the Piedmont forest slope, barely separated by a man looking for white truffles from the shelters of green and yellow leaves. The dogs that accompany him, instead, stand out quickly. From the beginning, it is clear that truffle hunters are at least equal if not primarily dogs.

After a few scenes, the camera stops zooming and panning, except for a few scenes. People-focused shots are almost invariably static. The camera just stays still and captures what it captures. There is often little light given to the Variety by the authors according to the interview they usually removed the light rather than increased it. The color specification is very similar to Fujifilm’s Classic Chrome. The result: a series of pictures almost like Renaissance paintings, Caravaggiota and Rafaelia, and moments Pieter Brueghel the Elder.

Then comes the realization: the hustle and bustle of dogs in the woods has been described from the perspective of the dogs themselves. Minicameras are placed on the heads of the dogs, and only the muzzle sometimes peeks at the bottom of the picture. The pace accelerates, then we stop, sniff, let’s tongue from here, check where the lord spies, whether it gets over the slope, where it is, there it is, there it is!

There is only a couple of times a dog’s perspective in the film. That’s just enough, the rhythm works. Such a coherent sense of style in visual narration is a rare treat and can only be admired.

The world of sound is also worth admiring. The wind blows in the trees, the creek rumbles somewhere outside the picture, the bottom of the forest bends and rumbles under a step, the dogs bark in their own way, the old car starts to rumble, the church bells rubber, the wood floor rattles, the typewriter rattles, the mediator Gianfranco sniffs the truffle after the truffle and speaks beautiful phrases into France. And then Aurelio breaks out to sing some evergreen blows. For a moment it’s like watching a musical, the glove falls between the hand and the stick, it doesn’t matter, the singing continues and the Birba dog notices the dropped glove, so of course, and lo and behold, the glove is with Aurelio again, and still only the singing continues.

None of this has been ruined by the narrator’s voice. It doesn’t exist at all. And music, it has been used sparingly, but sparingly can accommodate, among other things Jimmy Fontanan Il Poeta Pianse.

Truffle hunters in Piedmont tells mostly of men between the ages of 70 and 80 and their dogs. Aurelio says why in the world would he get married, he has Birba! At the same time, Aurelio talks to Birba about a future where she is no longer there, but no worries, Aurelio will surely find a good new home for Birba before that. This is a love story, like the other human-dog relationships in the film.

Aurelio and partners have been looking for white truffles in nearby forests for decades. The old tradition is dying, the younger generations reportedly care only about money, enjoying the forest and enjoying nature is no longer worth it. The harshest evidence of a lack of respect and greed is the poison bait that some leave in the woods. Let’s kill the dogs and take over the good truffle spots.

But there is also a film that is funny, the comedy offers especially a letter with a mouthpiece and a glass of wine in the hand Angelo.

Compared to hunters, the young Gianfranco goes to buy truffles from men, looking at their quality in the beam of car lights. Next, he sells truffles to restaurants in dark side streets, lifts them out of his pocket, asks to smell, cash to change hands, everything is twilight. The contrast with the forest images is consciously huge.

In the end, the best white truffles are at the fair in the spotlight on a red pillow, between bottles of red wine. Price 5,000 euros per kilogram.

Mary has denied Carloa from going to the woods at night. Then Maria says in the middle of dinner that what if Carlo quit completely, there is already a lot of age there, who can take care of us then.

Carlo responds by going out into the woods again at night, in secret. What would life be like if you didn’t get to do what you enjoy?