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REVIEWS
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Palio
Cosima Spender’s vivid and compelling
documentary depicts the behind-thescenes
intrigue of Siena’s famous biannual
horse race by frank scheck
THE PALIO HORSE RACE HELD
biannually in the Piazza del Campo of
Siena, Italy, is the subject of Cosima
Spender’s documentary, which plays like a classic
sports drama thanks to memorable central
characters. While the races, which go back
hundreds of years, last no more than 90 seconds
each, Palio, which premiered at Tribeca, packs
enough intrigue to fuel a miniseries.
The filmmaker lucked out with her decision
to concentrate on two of the race’s principal
jockeys: cocky 46-year-old veteran Gigi
Bruschelli, who’s won 13 Palios in 16 years and is
vying to break the record currently held by the
retired Andrea Degortes, known as “Aceto”; and
29-year-old, wildly ambitious upstart Giovanni
Atzeni, who was trained by Bruschelli and now
hopes to defeat his former mentor.
The races themselves, which attract some
70,000 viewers to the packed square, feature
contenders from 10 of the city’s districts, with
bribery and secret deals endemic to the proceedings.
To say that the city’s denizens take
the races seriously is an understatement, as
evidenced by clips of several jockeys being
viciously beaten by bystanders after losing;
some have even been murdered. Among other
colorful facts revealed: riderless horses can win
the race, and have done so on nearly two dozen
occasions; and the jockeys are allowed to whip
each other with stretched, dried ox penises.
But it’s the contestants who are the film’s
main attraction. Bruschelli, a controversial
figure, comments at one point, “Everyone has
expectations of me,” before quickly adding,
Horse racing, a hotbed of ego, corruption and violence, in Palio.
“Me and my colleagues, I mean.” The similarly
egotistical Atzeni points out about his rival
that “he’s at the end of his career and I’m at the
beginning.” Apparently recognizing his indiscretion,
he immediately instructs the filmmaker
to “cut that.” Equally memorable is the vainglorious
Aceto, who has no compunction about
sharing his acerbic observations. Seen at one
social gathering, he announces, “I’m used to
sitting at the head of the table.”
Providing more sober comments is the retired
Silvano Vigni, once Aceto’s rival and now a contented
farmer, who is openly critical about the
way the races are run. We’re also introduced to
Atzeni’s father, who holds little enthusiasm for
his son’s avocation. “I would have preferred him
to get two degrees,” he ruefully admits.
Featuring thrilling footage of the two races
held during the summer the film was shot, Palio
benefits greatly from the inherent drama of
their outcomes, which will not be revealed here.
Suffice it to say that a Hollywood screenwriter
couldn’t have come up with anything better.
Sales Altitude Film Sales
Director Cosima Spender // 90 minutes
Song of Lahore
Pakistani classical musicians try jazz on for size in this
likable doc, which is one part ethnomusicology to three
parts ‘Can they pull it off?’ reality TV by john defore
Pakistani musicians jazz it up all
the way to New York in Lahore.
PURVEYORS OF A FADING
musical tradition try
to adapt to the times in
Song of Lahore, Andy Schocken
and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s
documentary about classical
musicians in Pakistan. What
initially feels like a South Asian
attempt at Buena Vista Social
Club-style rediscovery takes a
left turn early on, as the men
decide success might lie in playing
American jazz.
The result is a likable if not
especially vibrant film that will
have some appeal on the festival
circuit and in special engagements
in Pakistani-American
communities. How the movie
would fare beyond that is
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 48
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