A documentary about connection to the past and the sad truth of what it means to lose your community. “Bosco” is a special documentary that reminds us all of the importance of not only where we came from, but also our families heritage, who knows what communities, stories and history have been lost due to us never glancing back.
Buried in chestnut trees in the secluded heights of an isolated valley, Bosco is a sleepy Italian village out of time. For the aging inhabitants of the village there is so much tradition and heritage to cling to, but to what end when everything is destined to disappear? Across the other side of the Atlantic the filmmakers’ grandfather Orlando, is lost in the memories of the village his family grew up in.
Alicia Cano Menoni’s documentary is an interesting time capsule of what happens when the numbers of the ageing residents in small rural villages begins to decrease, leaving very little with them in their community. As Cano Menoni details stories of the 13 remaining residents (originally 29 when she first began her filming in 2006), we see how they get by, a bus comes by once a week for residents to shop in for example.
As buildings become more and more run down, a fact that of the 123 homes three are now the home of animals. There is nostalgia cemented within “Bosco” as we have some vital archive footage of the village when there was life and importantly children living in the village. To then cut away to what it has become is disheartening, but not unexpected. Places in areas such as this are bond to slowly fall apart due to younger people wanting to live in more urban areas. Yet for all of that, for a week in August, people and families who used to live or come from Bosco return and the entire village as we see becomes alive again.
As if the emotional pull of seeing these mostly elderly citizens of the town and Orlando move about their homes and land, Cano Menoni will unexpectedly cut us back to previous footage of years earlier. An example of this is when she is with her grandfather and we see this lonely figure wandering around his home thinking of his life and what happens when he dies, leaving the home he built. Suddenly we will be struck with footage of Orlando and his wife discussing their lives and your heart aches, not only for him, but for the others still in Bosco, living a similar slow life as their town becomes overrun by nature and time begins to pass them by.
These moments continue and you are hard pressed to see more emotional moments than Cano Menoni’s grandparents slowly and painfully try to say farewell to their home due to it not being suitable for them to live there anymore. That kiss goodbye to their home of memories wrecks you. Sadly though beautifully, in “Bosco” this is a theme that continues to rise its head. The older and frailer the people of the village get, the more they have to let go, the more their independence leaves them.
Not that the residents are unaware of what was going to happen to them, they all know or at least seem to know that change is rapidly coming for them, it is just how they handle it. Like an oncoming tsunami that you can’t get away from, only one that moves at a glacial pace. “Bosco” is a stark reminder to cherish the times you have now, as when we all hopefully grow old, we can try to remember fondly of the times we had instead of worrying about what is to come. A wonderful documentary.
★★★★
Bosco is available to watch now on www.filmhouseathome.com
For more information on our coverage of EIFF, please look below at our reviews!
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