IL RESTO DI NIENTE THE REST OF NOTHING

Italy, 2004, 103 minutes, Colour.
Maria de Madeiros.
Directed by Antoniette de Lillo.

Il Resto di Niente is a historical reconstruction of Naples at the end of the 18th century. It shows the monarchy, the feelings of the people against the tyranny of the monarchs and the embracing of the principles of the French Revolution. By the end of the century, there had been a revolution, the exiling of the monarchy and the establishing of the French. The intellectuals who supported this revolution, however, were arrested when the monarchy was restored.

The film focuses on an intellectual woman, a seemingly small and fragile character, Portuguese in origin, whose family moved from Rome to Naples. She is well played by Maria de Madeiros (Henry and June, Pulp Fiction). The film shows her growth in intellectual stature, her participating in the revolutionary discussions, writing and publishing. However, while she took part in activities promoting literature, she was not a violent revolutionary. However, she was ultimately arrested, many of her co-revolutionaries being executed. The film shows the last hours before her execution, her discussions with various intellectuals (and in this context come the flashbacks). Ultimately, she was hanged.

The film is beautifully reconstructed – but for an audience outside Italy, perhaps an audience outside Naples, the material is unfamiliar and the film-makers rely on audience knowledge of this period, its intellectual content, its emotional response. It also highlights the exercise of papal power and the traditions of anti-clericalism because of this in the Italian peninsula.