Article by Elisa Gnani

Translation by Federica Riccardi

The memory of Benedetto Croce’s last Christmas serves, in Pupi Avati’s film, as a pretext to illustrate the biography of one of the greatest key players of Italian history. From political depth to talent in studies, from the vocation for freedom to philosophical vision, the documentary – presented out of competition at the forty-second edition of the Turin Film Festival – opens up an original glimpse into the life of the Italian philosopher and senator.

Setting aside fictional contributions, the film draws on testimonies from scholars and relatives – especially Benedetta Craveri’s proof, Croce’s niece – and archive material from the Istituto Luce archives. The biographical narrative begins in 1883, the year of Ischia’s earthquake, where the parents and sister of the very young Croce lost their lives. The film identifies the origin of the unstoppable temper and acuity that always distinguished him, as if to testify that it always takes a storm to reveal one’s inner strenght.

Pupi Avati brings a complex product to the big screen, a hybrid of documentary and fiction: Un Natale a casa Croce is a project with a solid, well-defined architecture, whose potential, however, does not seem fully exploited. The result is a sometimes uneven narrative, marked by a certain sophistication that, however, makes the plot less clear, relying heavily on the presumed familiarity of the audience with a true story that may not be so well known.