In 2016 Gabriele Mainetti arrived at Arrow Video FrightFest with the film They Call Me Jeeg Robot. The film was a highlight of that year’s festival for many, and those attendees will be thrilled to learn that the director has a new movie, Freaks Out. Set during WWII, Mainetti’s latest feature is a bold, epic tale of friendship and finding one’s inner power. Matilde (Aurora Giovinazzo), Fulvio (Claudio Santamaria), Cencio (Pietro Castellitto), and Mario (Giancarlo Martini) live and work for a small circus of curiosities run by father-figure Israel (Giorgio Tirabussa). After Israel is detained by the Nazi’s occupying Italy, the quartet must do all they can to rescue him, along the way crossing paths with fanatical Nazi soldier Franz (Franz Rogowski).
It’s not often that the FrightFest organisers carve out over two hours of their programming to screen a foreign language period fantasy film, and when they do, the film in question has to be pretty special. Freaks Out is entirely that kind of special, and though its inclusion may irritate some attending the festival purely for blood, guts, and ghosts, it is very worth your time and effort. Mainetti and co-writer Nicola Guaglianone have crafted a haunting and complex story of owning oneself and the power of connection. It’s a story that takes time setting itself up and the pace is not concerned with racing to the conclusion. Freaks Out gently reveals all of its elements; it is well into the second hour before some characters’ truth and intentions are made clear. The leisurely pace enables the world of the story to fully envelope the viewer, fully transporting and immersing them into Manietti’s construction.
The cinematography, production design, and costumes are stunning to behold. Every ounce of Freaks Out oozes expensive, Mainetti squeezing everything he can out of the budget to create a film that looks ten times as costly as it actually was. The vast richness of all the visual components are necessary to sell both the environment of the film, but to also convey the air of fairy-tale that helps make Freaks Out feel magical. Each of the quartet possess strange abilities and afflictions; from the power to conduct electricity, to the ability to harness insects. Add to these a dog-man (and later woman), and there’s a lot of material for the effects teams had to work with. Their realisations, both practical and visual, combine together to give the sense that these oddities are real. The production values displayed screams lavish budget, when the reality is much more modest.
Not wanting to create a straight period story, Manietti plays with the audience’s expectations with the inclusion of more modern music. Following in the footsteps of both Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette and television series Westworld, the visuals are accompanied by piano variations on Radiohead’s Creep and Guns n Roses’ Sweet Child ‘o Mine. It’s a small thing, but one that helps imbue Freaks Out with a further sense of identity, helping to differentiate it from the other thousands of war-set movies. More importantly, the inclusion of the songs is also relevant to the plot, and it’s a magic moment when the penny drops concerning their origin.
As pretty and playfully inventive as Freaks Out is, it is the characters that shine. The cast all commit completely to their characters, and in doing so create complex creatures that demand attention and emotional investment. Each has their own complicated journey to traverse, all as interesting as the other, though it is the story of Matilde that really sings. Unable to have anyone get too close to her, lest they risk electrocution, Matilde is essentially Freaks Out’s variant of X-Men’s Rogue. Her struggle to connect to those around her paints her as a tragic figure and watching her evolve to embrace her ability is a joy to watch. Her story arc is all about finding her inner goddess and claiming her power, which works effectively as a metaphor for the transition from girl to woman.
Hunting our core quartet is Nazi soldier and circus owner Franz. It is through his character that the darkness seeps in. His zealous love and worship of Hitler stains Freaks Out lighter elements and injects a foreboding tone. Franz Rogowski is amazing in the role, making the character cruel and caddish enough to sit alongside the fellow period movie villains Titanic’s Cal and Moulin Rogue!’s The Duke. Thankfully the character isn’t as two-dimensional as these two though, as Franz hidies a wealth of insecurities and inferiority complexes that makes him, not a sympathetic antagonist, but one whose intentions can be understood if not justified.
Despite the bleak story and dark backdrop, there is plenty of humour and romance to be found within Freaks Out, Mainetti swirling all components together to create something that feels like Gone with the Wind levels of sweeping epic. Although a tad slow in places, this is a thoughtfully assembled piece of fiction that fights through the gloom to arrive at a conclusion that is oddly uplifting and empowering. A strange and complex muddling of X-Men and The Shape of Water, with an abundance of Nazi’s, Freaks Out will have you crying, laughing, wincing, and smiling as it tells its epic story of belonging and embracing your weirdness.
Freaks Out
Summary
A swirling and sweeping epic tale that traverses time and genres to become a film that feels rather special.
Freaks Out was reviewed at FrightFest Glasgow 2022. Dazzler Media presents (the newly named) critically acclaimed and fresh fantasy adventure, Freaks Vs The Reich, in selected UK and Irish cinemas from 12 January 2024.
