1981 (Ricardo Trogi, 2009): Canada

Reviewed by Nicholas Berquist.  Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Many of us would not like to revisit the times we had growing up.  For the most part they’re filled with embarrassment, failure, and more embarrassment.  Ricardo Trogi is of a different mold and his film 1981 is a retelling of what life was like for him as an eleven-year-old.  Trogi doesn’t pull any punches and really encapsulates what life is really all about for a middle schooler.

Trogi’s tone for the film is noticeable right off the bat.  The narrator, Trogi, begins by taking us through a flashback of WWII.  His father, Benito, was a child during the war and his family couldn’t afford to buy “stuff.”  His sense of humor fits because it is that of a child.  The flashback scene is in black and white and Ricardo says that’s because everything was black and white, even people.  Once the flashback ends we understand that Ricardo is trying to swindle his Dad into buying him a calculator watch.  This is a theme throughout the film.  Ricardo begs for things and his parents refuse him.  This is pretty much the same deal we all had to put up with in middle school.

The Trogi’s are forced to move placing Ricardo and his younger sister in a new school.  This is as epic as life can get when you’re growing up.  There is nothing more intimidating than a new school.  What makes things worse is all the kids have the things that Ricardo has been craving.  These kids “have dough” as Ricardo puts it.  When things couldn’t possibly be any worse, Ricardo is assigned to learn longhand from Anne Tremblay.  During their session she brushes against Ricardo’s arm, an action he sees as a deliberate attempt to be close to him.  Ricardo develops a huge crush on her and soon has to juggle his family life, his friends, and Anne Tremblay.  Who says life for an eleven-year-old is easy?

Like most of us, Ricardo discovers lying can help him get out of tricky situations.  Also like most of us, he is too young to understand the repercussions of his actions.  Truth and lying is also a prevalent theme of this film.  Do we lie to protect ourselves or does the truth really set us free?  This is a question that we have trouble understanding late in our lives, let alone when they’re just beginning.

No matter how old we are and no matter what happens in our lives we will always remember the cliques that formed in school.  Maybe the names fade and the faces become less clear, but whether or not we were a part of the cool clique resonates forever.  Ricardo knows who the cool gang is and will do anything to be included.  Thanks to Ricardo’s cousin he knows a pretty sly way to make friends quickly.  This scene alone is reason enough for any male to see this film, it’s true, it’s pathetic, and mostly it’s hilarious.

Because this film is so realistic it’s hard to remember we are viewing cinema.  The voice over of Trogi helps to remind us we are witnessing a story, not peoples’ lives.  The feeling of realism is reinforced by the cinematography and editing.  The camera is stationary for most of the film, creating a window into these peoples’ lives.  It’s so real we feel like we’re there.  The rhythm of the film through editing is also slower than most films; reinforcing this belief that what is going on could very well be reality.  Trogi did a fantastic job of capturing the realism and contrasting his style to Hollywood, creating this very different type of film.

For anyone who enjoys a good comedy with just the right amount of drama, this film is certain to satisfy.