Venice was founded by Celtic peoples in the aftermath of the fall of the Roman empire. They built a place that would be difficult, if not impossible to attack: a city on stilts in a lagoon. Venice then became an immensely wealthy and powerful maritime power through the so-called Middle Ages. Because of this wealth and power, Venice became one of the great centres of art and architectures of the world. Literally millions and millions of tourists visit Venice every year to take in St. Mark’s Square, admire the works of Tintoretto, Crivelli and Canaletto and listen to one of the many local groups playing Vivaldi and Corelli. But what none of these tourists are ever likely to see is the subject of Yuri Ancarani’s film, Atlantide. Namely, the youth culture that is obsessed with racing barchini – small motorboats.
The visuals alone are worth the price of admission in this stunningly shot film. We see an astonishing mix of high and low culture with these tricked out boats, lit up at night with black lights and blasting EDM as they cruise through the canals and under the bridges of the lagoon. Most of the action does not take place on the main island, and again, this is another reason to watch. It’s not all that easy to see the other islands that make up Venice. We see a world here that I don’t think has ever been captured on film. And this is all the more remarkable given that it’s set in one of the most photographed places on earth.
The boats themselves are not remarkable in their stock form. They’re probably about 12-14 feet with 40 horse power motors. But the kids who race them, in addition to the aforementioned lights, add stickers and powerful sound systems. One could watch them buzzing around the ancient buildings all day. And that seems to have been one of Ancarani’s goals. The film spends a lot of time just observing the boats without much dialogue. In truth, this film is really more about tone and mood than plot or character, and that was just fine with me. The powerful tone of the film is somehow cool, but bleak at the same time. In some ways, this is like an arthouse version of The Fast and the Furious, but on the water and in Venice.
But there is indeed a plot here. The film follows Daniele, a young man who seems to have been born to screw up and fail. When we first see him, he’s separated by a wall from the much more beautiful young people in bathing suits diving into the lagoon and having fun. The wall is figurative as well as literal. Daniele doesn’t really fit in, no matter how much he wants to. He’s got a supportive, but stressed out girlfriend. He’s not fit for any kind of regular work, and he supports himself through criminal activity of various kinds. There is no sign that any of the kids in this film have, or perhaps ever had, parents. Daniele has his own boat. But it’s not fast enough to really compete with the other kids. So he devises one plan after another to get his boat up to speed. But, not being very bright, his plans seem dubious at best. His girlfriend comments that if he could just do things the right way, they’d have a group of friends they could hang out with forever.
Atlantide takes its time letting this plot unfold. The slow pace, though, suits the mood of the film. We’re not in a great hurry to see what happens because we don’t like or care about Daniele. He doesn’t so much as save a cat here, but since this isn’t meant to be a Hollywood blockbuster, the dumb thuggish protagonist is much more realistic. And in his repulsiveness, he remains captivating.
Atlantide is not Ancarani’s first film. His previous titles include San Siro and The Challenge, which deal with the San Siro football stadium in Milan, which seats over 80,000, and Qatari sheiks who drive Lamborghinis and engage in falconry. We can see a thread weaving through these films: Ancarani is interested in spectacle. And Atlantide is very much a spectacle worth watching.