Filippo Demarchi | 17 anni (Age 17) / 2013

 unholy love

by Douglas Messerli

 

Filippo Demarchi (screenwriter and director) 17 anni (Age 17) / 2013 [22 minutes]

 

Oh, the dilemmas of young love! In one of the Italian-speaking cantons of Switzerland, 17-year-old Matteo (Fabio Foiada), a drummer in the local band, quickly falls in love with the band’s conductor, a local priest, Don Massimo (Ignazio Oliva).

     Logic clearly has nothing to do with it. Matteo is certain, despite the priest’s religious vows, that Don Massimo, in his regular encouragements of the young boy and in his willingness to talk with him and encourage him to join in other church-supported activities such as their soccer games and the weekend carwash, that the older man is also attracted equally to him.

   It soon becomes obvious to almost everyone that Matteo is making some sort of attempt to get closer to the priest—his fellow drummer Firat (Kevin Martinetti) imagines he simply trying to “brownnose” the older man, particularly after Matteo is awarded the position of first drummer.   

   Yet as David Hall observes on his internet-based Gay Celluloid, “the man himself is blind to the point of incredulity to Matteo’s longing looks and ways, even when Matteo all but invites himself over to Massimo’s house.”

     Finally, not finding his loved one in the parish house, Matteo even breaks into Don Massimo’s room, waiting for his arrival. The boy insists he has to talk about something important, which finally the priest realizes has to do with sex. Suspecting that the teen is having doubts about his sexuality, the priest assures him that such doubts are natural and that he should go with his own feelings.

   “You don’t have to worry, or judge yourself, or let others judge you. Sex is complicated, and love is the most beautiful thing in the world. Live your feelings your own way.” All of which encourages Matteo to hug and attempt to engage the older man a passionate kiss, Don Massimo pushing off the boy and reminding him of his priestly duties.

     The pain of rejection at the age is perhaps one of the deepest hurts that young men and women first encounter, and their reaction is often thoughtlessly destructive.

    On the day of the important marching concert, Matteo takes his place in formation as they begin their dreadful version of The Radetzky March which begins with the measured beat of his drum. But in the midst of the performance, his drumming suddenly takes on a nearly mad series of rhythms creating a nearly epileptic fit a drumming that goes out of control and takes the other band performers with it. Don Massimo calls the performance to a halt, as the boy runs off. Firat takes Matteo’s place as the march starts over again.

    Later, Don Massimo finds the isolated spot to where Matteo has run, trying to apologize and assure him that he knows how difficult things are for him. By this time, however, Matteo has realized the folly of his love and in total frustration denies any advice or attentions that the priest might have to offer. At 17, it is clear, he has realized that if he is to survive as who he is, he must reject the church itself. With God as the third figure in the boy’s would-be love triangle, there is no room for him.

     The boy is finally left along, a pariah in the community and an outsider in his own recognition of his homosexual desires.

     Swiss writer/director Filippo Demarchi provides no easy solutions for the dilemmas his lovingly filmed work has presented. Matteo is at the age when he will surely soon have to leave his small town and come to terms with who he is outside of the well-meaning gestures along with the restrictions of society and religion in which he grew up.

 

Los Angeles, September 23, 2024

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (September 2024).