
Mauro Russo Rouge
2021Bloom Up: A Swinger Couple Story
Mauro Russo Rouge
Elisabetta Barbero, Hermes Osnato
Hermes and Betta are a middle-aged Italian couple who run the neighborhood pet store by day and organize extravagant sexual encounters with multiple partners by night.
Bloom Up: A Swinger Couple Story
Ira
Mauro Russo Rouge
Silvia Cuccu, Samuele Maritan
Ira translates as “Anger,” but the titular emotion isn’t often conveyed by the unnamed man and woman at the center of this subdued Italian drama set on the grim fringes of society. Instead, they spend their nights working—he in the market, she on the streets—or wandering restlessly and relentlessly around their dark, decaying city. Writer/director Mauro Russo Rouge follows his characters as they drive down roads lit by the yellow glow of streetlights, push through the crowds at a pink-hued nightclub, pick up supplies in a glaringly bright supermarket, and meander down sidewalks with drinks in hand. They rarely emerge into the sunlight; most of the action takes place in claustrophobic indoor spaces or in the cold, gray light of dusk or dawn. So, too, do their expressions remain withdrawn—even when their nascent relationship triggers a decisive act of violence.
Ira
Calm Like a Bomb
Mauro Russo Rouge
Giovanni Pescetti, Mauro Pacenti
A man whose girlfriend was murdered takes revenge during the course of a single night. A spiral of shocking violence leaves no room for words. A man, his woman, three criminals and the distorted sounds of a city are the only reference.
C.L.A.B.