La vita in comune

Life moves slowly in the little village of Disperata (Apulia). Slowly like the slug in the first shot of The Ark of Disperata. Two bicycles, ridden by a pair of idiots heading to a petrol station, barge into this pastoral scene which ends in the death of a charming German shepherd. Later on, Pati, one of the two attackers, reflects with regret on this petty murder in his prison cell. From the beginning of the film, you quickly realise that Winspeare chooses a light tone for characters that are a bit out of the ordinary: This is a calculated decision to create a world that has its paradoxical aspects in reality as well. Welcome to the South. (Camillo de Marco, Cineuropa)