“Ariadne” by Adrian Rodriguez

Adrian Rodriguez’s work is a full cinematic experience from start to finish. Full of meaning, feeling, beauty. But the director’s authorial operation is not a simple sum of these elements. First of all, there is a strong narrative intention, of a classical kind, which has its roots in Greek mythology. In contact with this “sacred” material, Rodriguez builds an innovative, amazing but above all extremely true film. The beauty of the staging and the narrative presumptions do not prevent the film from flowing naturally without any cloying mannerism. It is thanks to this that the film, before being a strong authorial work, is a film that speaks of human feelings with great acuteness.

To the impact of the dialogues, Rodriguez prefers a naked language, stripped of rhetoric and accessories. But the film mainly communicates with bodies and spaces, which sometimes come to mix in a great stylistic elegance that actually recalls a canon of Hellenic beauty. Yet “Ariadne” does not rest on banal classic references. Indeed, the courage of some rather surprising and indiscreet directorial ideas impose the director’s position: the personal reworking of a classic myth from which he draws inspiration and from which he distances himself, in a continuous transition from one state to another. In this elegy of feelings, and above all of the female mind, a prominent element is certainly acting. The film comes to life thanks to the faces and interpretations of the actors, evidently in tune with the sense of the work. The whole cast, in addition to possessing ideal physiognomies, are evidently in deep connection with the respective characters. Their virtuous work has led them to abandon any easy stereotyped caricature, to bring the film to a more personal level, which is then the key to any great film.
Of particular importance is certainly the interpretation of Dustin Ardine, in the role of the “Minotaur”. At first glance the great physicality of this talented actor stands out, surely a strength that Ardine knows how to make the most of. In fact, it is clear that the actor has full awareness of his body as an acting tool and his performance helps to emphasize the entire film, allowing the viewer to truly immerse themselves in the experience. Yet that’s not all. Dustin Ardine’s interpretation is distinguished by a profound use of facial mimicry, capable of loading its role and at the same time countering it, with flashes of surprising humanity. Ardine succeeds in what is perhaps the most difficult operation for an actor: to add a textual level to the story. He is not only an interpreter of the script but part of it. Actors like Ardine make the difference and bring a film to an inimitable level.

Films like these are destined to survive the oblivion of modernity.