Marx Can Wait revolves around a tragedy: the suicide of Camillo Bellochio in 1968. His brother, Marco, is now a celebrated Italian director in the vein of auteurs like Fellini, Pasolini, Visconti, and various others. Politics oozes through Bellochio’s work, but in Marx Can Wait, he switches from the political to the personal. The film’s title comes from a conversation Marco had with his brother. Voicing his displeasure with the way his life has gone, Marco encourages him to dive into politics. “Marx can wait” was Camillo’s cryptic response.
The director reunites members of his family to discuss Camillo and his death in 1968. His abrupt suicide helped them all form their own views on life, politics, art, faith, and various other subjects. Shot over many years, the Bellochio clan reunites in the small town of Piacenza in Northern Italy. They reminisce about their upbringing (Marco was one of eight children, and five survive today), and the classic documentary tropes of old photographs and film clips (much from Marco’s own works) permeate throughout.
However, the film draws its power from the family itself. Through Marco Bellocchio's intimate direction, you can truly see the way Camillo impacted each member. Marco discusses how growing up in Vicenza, as well as his relationship with Camillo and his family, influenced films like In the Name of the Father and Fists in the Pocket. This family unit, now mostly in their eighties, tries simultaneously to make sense of who they are now and who they were growing up.
It is a shockingly raw and haunting documentary. Camillo Bellochio may have ended his life in 1968 but over fifty years later, he still remains a driving force in these people’s lives. The film would work well for those studying Italian history and Italian cinema, or those studying to become family or grief counselors.
View the Marx Can Wait press kit here.
Read the New York Times review of Marx Can Wait here.
