THE POWERFUL BEAT OF THE “SOGLIOLA”

Submitted by

Giulia Morlacchi

THE POWERFUL BEAT OF THE “SOGLIOLA” is a film about the dignity of memory, a scathing critique of the consumerism of emotions and objects; it is a hymn to everything that, beneath its battered exterior, still finds the strength to proclaim its existence.

The world moves at a frenetic pace; the watchword is “replace.” Born of a culture that discards everything that is no longer effective, society decides behind closed doors who is too old to exist or which objects should be thrown away.

The parallel is stark: the old man and Blanca, the old Fiat 126 Bis, suffer the exact same fate. They are turned off, cast aside, and stripped of their purpose because they are deemed obsolete, even though both still function perfectly. This is the shared fate of humans and objects in the age of planned obsolescence, where “still functioning” is no longer enough if one bears the burden of the guilt of being old.

The film portrays the dignity, nostalgia, and silent rage of those crushed by a society that refuses to listen. The language constantly moves on a double track: the human (old age, feeling useless, “the smell of old people”) and the mechanical (dented bodywork, rust, sensors, batteries). It’s a touching metaphor for old age, the planned obsolescence of feelings, and the beauty of imperfect things that, beneath the rust, still preserve a soul capable of crying out.