Mal'occhio: The Evil Eye (2010)

I came across this documentary by chance and was very excited to watch it. I've always been fascinated by the evil eye, by the fact that social scorn, or even social praise can affect one's physical well-being. It's a cross between the spiritual and the physical, which is a rare occurrence these days, as spirituality has taken a back seat to science in the social sphere, which has stunted societal spiritual growth in my opinion. Mal'occhio was something believed in and practiced mostly by the poor, peasant class. People who were uneducated in comparison with present day standards, and who were arguably closer to the natural world.

For those who don't know, Mal'occhio is the evil eye. The event where someone thinks ill or wishes ill of you, and that act can have physical results in your life. The most common (but not only) symptom is a severe headache, and there are several ways to protect yourself against this 'evil'. The documentary explored what the evil eye is, and how one can rid themselves of it. This documentary was interesting in that it explored personal perspectives of older people in the community as well as the practices and beliefs surrounding the idea of mal'occhio. Usually, it is very difficult to get elders in the Italian community to discuss these details, so hearing and elder's belief, practice, and ritual is an interesting experience. The film tries to explore possible flaws with the ritual, what may compromise the results, but mostly focuses on the possibility of its existence. I felt that the film could have gone into further depth in regards to the origins of the belief, and could have gone into more detail when explaining what mal'occhio actually means, and what happens to you when you have it. We get a vague idea from listening to personal accounts and one or two specialists, but the concept in itself isn't really explained in detail. More time is spent asking whether or not it's real, and if you are not a part of this culture you might be kind of lost.

I wasn't a fan of the filmography. There were more than a few transitional scenes following day-to-day actions that had no narration to tie in their relevance. Events such as lying on a bed, washing dishes, walking down a series of streets, observing art, etc. These scenes are simply presented without any explanation or signifying relevance, which ultimately leads to the frustrating feeling that they should have been cut and are just wasting the viewer's time. This fact, along with the lack of progression from academic and practical experts led the film to present itself in an amateurish light. The film seems like a college project rather than a full-fledged film. That said, it was informative in its own way. There were several perspectives represented and the movie was shot mostly in Italian with English subtitles, which adds to the authenticity. Overall the film was decent. I don't know that I would say this is the best source on the subject, but it is a useful film in introducing Mal'occhio to those who are already slightly familiar with the culture. Maybe not a purchase, but a watch at the very least.

http://www.cbc.ca/absolutelycanadian/upcoming-episodes/2012/06/16/sat-march-24-2012-malocchio-the-evil-eye/