Happy Lazzaro, A Wonderful Film About Goodness

When you start watching the movie Lazzaro happily , you can have the feeling that it is a distant story. As the seconds go by, through the dialogue of the protagonists, it is when some aspects begin to be questioned, such as the historical-temporal . And this is because the first scenario of the film has to do with the dialogue between people who are victims of slavery in a tobacco factory in the middle of the 20th century. 

In the midst of contemporary times, in the light of day, in a location quite far from the hand of God, the first act of the film takes place, inspired by a true story.

A Marchioness in the center of Italy, forced the seclusion of the peasants of her lands so that they were unaware that sharecropping had been prohibited . In 1982, sharecropping agreements – still in force – became leases or paid work ; however, this marchioness concealed from the workers that this had not happened.

In this case, the story takes place in a village dedicated to the exploitation of tobacco, “La Inviolatta”, run by the Marchioness Alfonsina de Luna, exploiting the workers who have lived there for generations, violating the workers’ rights and depriving them of any of the freedoms.

Lazzaro, a happy young man being good

The film is called Lazzaro because it refers to the protagonist, who embodies an innocent, kind, and altruistic character. Similar to the Spanish imaginary of the “guide”, but quite the opposite of its conception in the picaresque.

Lazzaro is a humble servant, happy to help without receiving anything in return. Something that is far from the concept of success in today’s society, focused on results.

This idea coincides with the fact that Lazzaro cannot change the world and his holiness cannot be valued. In the collective imagination we tend to imagine these strong and charismatic holy people, capable of imposing themselves. However, today, the charism is not associated with holiness.

Lazzaro , is a pure character, good by nature and by essence, that in contrast to the fierce times of capitalism, evokes to resemble a holiness more than an ordinary person. It is a sad portrait, basically almost satirical, of the passage from a historical middle age to a human middle age.

How is evil born? Is it learned?

Lazzaro gradually discovers evil and assimilates it, because it is impossible or unnatural for him to understand it from the beginning. It is and attempt to understand evil defends the thesis that the nature of the human being is manifested in an erroneous way by learning.

In the other part, the film shows a refutation of evil as something that belongs to man. Or even the wolf. This is for Lazzaro a contrast with man since it does not constitute harm to him, but rather protects him.

This contrast also presents the natural passions and instincts of man , such as protection, friendship, laughter, the pursuit of natural pleasures and fidelity.

How should we respond to evil ?

When the police inform workers that they are being scammed, they are hesitant and have a hard time understanding the situation. It seems that evil, in addition to being suffered, must be made explicit, to account for its existence.

There is an obvious relationship in the existence of information with the knowledge of evil. The moment the slaves are freed into the city, they have to deal with a new model based on capital.

In order to get ahead, they resort to picaresque strategies, which are seen as dishonest, based on deceiving others, something that Lazzaro does not quite understand.

Several characters teach Lazzaro that evil is answered with evil, and he is not capable. However, his companions, faced with evil, responded in the same way. This alerts us to the power of vicarious learning that evil has and the need to find other avenues.

The relationship between evil and loss of beauty

Faced with the attempt to act evil, when they incite him, Lazzaro is not capable, he feels it as something alien, unknown to his nature .

When he realizes what the network of behaviors consists of, which implies acting evil, Lazzaro falls ill , he becomes enveloped in a sad atmosphere and seems to lose his essence, his natural beauty. It’s like breaking his own human nature.

Almost by inertia, he dedicated himself to looking for his friend Tancredi , son of the Marchioness herself, with whom he shared an authentic, pure friendship, free of conventions and class relations. In an attempt to regain his essential truth and beauty, he is drawn to his friend, on his own quest, immersing us in the lyricism of magical realism.

Different genres of cinema in one movie

Lazzaro feliz  mixes different styles, in addition to elements of magical realism, such as the fable and Italian neorealism. Italian neorealism was a narrative and cinematographic movement that emerged in Italy during the post-war period of World War II, starting in 1945. Its objective was to show more authentic and humane social conditions, moving away from the historical and musical style, which had been imposed until then.

Happy Lazzaro includes the genre of the fable and its propototypes: its mysteries, its inconsistencies, with the heroes and villains. Making it clear that the symbolism of the fable is not something merely abstract, but that the symbolism is usually very present in our lives. And it is when we do not pay due attention to it, that a certain reality is conformed.

As in The Little Prince , – although they are different genres-, Lazzaro feliz is a masterpiece. Without losing the thread of the scenes, the link between one teaching and another has been achieved, something that is more difficult to capture when there are real characters and a moving camera. This timeless character of his teachings is a distinction in the cinema, as well as his humanistic portrayal.

In addition to his extraordinary technique, he has a soundtrack typical of the film and the aesthetic beauty of landscapes located between Vetriolo and Bagnoregio, near Viterbo, and Castel Giorgio, in the province of Terni, and in the second part in Milan, Turin and Civitavecchia.

The final scene leaves us many reflections. Like that many negative events are unnecessarily triggered and perpetuated by the human species . This is one of them.

I invite you to watch this movie and get your own . Lazzaro feliz is a call to society to make man a better place for man.