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IL SOLENGO
family film
Alessio Rigo de Righi and Matteo Zoppis, 2015, 70'

In the remote Lazio countryside, an area bound to old traditions, a group of hunters recalls the life of Mario the hermit, known as “il Solengo”, after the name given to the male boar that lives away from the pack.

A group of elders gathers in a hunting lodge and recalls the life of Mario “de’ Marcella”, a man who lived in a cave over 60 years of his life. Why he chose to live a solitary existence is unknown. Perhaps it had something to do with a mysterious and tragic event of his childhood. Those who saw him while hunting referred to him as “il Solengo”, like the male boar who lives away from the pack. In the warmth of the lodge where they meet to eat and drink, the aged hunters sit around a table and tell tales about this complex individual. As a result, the stories are often conflicting and inconsistent from one to the next. Mario was rough and ir-ritable, had peculiar behavior and dressed in an extravagant way. Some say he was crazy, others say he wasn’t. They all agree, however, that he never spoke to anyone.The men narrate their point of view from recollections and as they do so end up re-vealing something about themselves, their own personality and in wider terms, about the world they live in. The once traditional ritual of oral storytelling is brought to life through this generation of men who continue dauntlessly to live off the land.

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