Toronto – The world of airport security in the post 9/11 world has become increasingly invasive with an alarming amount security measures introduced on a seemingly yearly basis. The Castle, an Italian documentary by filmmakers Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti that takes a look at these increased measures, as well day to day operations of airport personnel at Milan’s Malpensa Airport. Following employees of the airport for a better part of a year, we meet customs officials, immigration officers, grounds crew, and a nomadic woman who seems to live inside the airport.
The first two thirds of the documentary was fascinating – we finally get a good glimpse at what immigration and customs officers do on a daily basis, including interrogations of refugees, suspected drug traffickers and all sorts of nefarious individuals. This could be a root cause of why officials at airports always seem to be in a bad mood. Seeing the frustration painted on an officer’s face as a busted drug trafficker openly lies to him helps make you realize that life at the airport is not all fun and games. The documentary also shows the downside of increased security measures, with various citizens seemingly having their rights violated by having their possessions searched through and through. The filmmakers also take looks at customs officials who have to deal with mass shipments of goods, as well as the ground crew’s everlasting battle with birds on the runway. It was all very interesting.
The last third of the documentary focused on a particular woman who seemed to have been inspired by Tom Hanks in the movie The Terminal. The woman has taken up shop at the airport, using the public bathroom for everything from cleaning to cooking. Because the filmmakers took a no testimonial/interview approach with the film, we don’t really get any details as to why the woman lived there, so one can only assume. While the concept of following around someone who lives in an airport is interesting in itself, the execution of this segment was mind-numbing. The last half hour of the documentary was more or less dedicated to watching this woman clean and cook a meal and dyeing her hair. A good fifteen minutes was dedicated to watching this woman wash her hair, cut it, dye it and dry it. It’s about as interesting as it sounds. There are no footage of her dealing with security or immigrations, just a woman in a public bathroom going about her womanly ways. It was one of the most frustrating segments in a documentary I’ve ever seen.
I wish I could have rated Italian documentary The Castle after 2/3 of the film because at that point, I was thinking it was a pretty stellar documentary. However, after that the documentary went off the rails faster than a Hollywood teenage star and as a result, most audiences will leave the film in a daze.
The Castle has the following screenings:
Mon, May 2 9:30 PM @ Cumberland 2
Wed, May 4 1:00 PM @ Cumberland 2