Cert TBA
93 mins
BBFC advice: TBA
This was an unexpected addition to the everyfilm quest.
Sacro GRA is a documentary by Gianfranco Rosi which has received much festival acclaim but has rarely appeared at UK cinemas.
Nevertheless, thanks to its listing on www.filmdates.co.uk I had put a request in to see it via a site called www.festivalscope.com
Festival scope offers the chance for writers or those associated with the movie industry to see independent films.
Through it, I appealed directly to the makers of Sacro GRA and two months later they gave me access.
And what I would conclude is that Rosi's documentary is interesting without being riveting.
Apparently, he roamed the length of Rome's infamous GRA ring road (Grande Raccordo Anulare) in a minivan, recording those who live and work alongside it.
These ranged from a botanist making audio recordings of the palm trees to detect and poison insects which are devouring them, a paramedic who treats car accident victims along the road and an eel fisherman who lives with his virtually silent wife on a houseboat beneath an underpass.
There are few pretty people in Sacro GRA. Indeed, it is as if Rosi has deliberately set out to discover the dysfunctional.
These include two young women who are paid to dress skimpily and dance on the counter of a back-street bar. It is hard to imagine anyone enjoying their work less and this is reflected in the lack of enthusiasm of their dancing.
The only shaft of light comes from the residents of a tower block who live in austere circumstances but boast about their view of St. Peter's Square.
It is a sight which Sacro GRA deliberately does not offer.
Laughs; none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6/10