Matteo's Boots - SPOILERS - La meglio gioventù (2003) Discussion

[–] BernardDB 20 years ago

Just guessing:
I think what is taking place at this point in the story is very much 'touch and go'.
Matteo and Mirella should be together to celebrate New Year, despite their recent argument at Matteo's office. They are trying to phone each other but fail for a matter of seconds. Things are developing in real time. (The TV sound is continuous all over.)
When he removes his shoes, nothing is set yet; Matteo then closes the French windows.
Matteo's final move is an acting out.

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[–] smarr 20 years ago

He is in the kitchen and smells the leftovers in the fridge...he gets a glass of water, and the camera pans down to his feet. He goes to the balcony, sees the fireworks, and waters the plants. Then I think he unlaces his boots, walks back in and closes the doors. He says "buon anno" and walks out again, and throws himself over the edge. And I think the next morning, his boots are there on the balcony.

I was wondering - does he leave them there on purpose when he's killing himself? Or is he just taking his shoes off to relax?

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[–] BernardDB 20 years ago

To me, what you describe is a piece of cinéma vérité.
However when it comes to analysing Matteo's motivations, I soon give up!

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[–] smarr 20 years ago

It was such a well done scene, with the television on, calling Mirella, the fireworks...

I was just wondering if anyone thought there was significance to the boots, because there was the unusual shot panning all the way down to his feet in the kitchen and back up again...and somehow, from that, I just knew something terrible would happen.

For me, one of the most shocking powerful scenes ever in a film.

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[–] esbiker 18 years ago

I believe Matteo took off his boots to indicate his act was definitely a suicide rather than an accident. His career was law enforcement. He knew that there could be the possibility that people might think his death was either an accident or murder. Since he offended many people during his career (as indicated by the way he treated the Club owner at the police precinct). That would have either led the movie off in an entirely different direction of either finding a killer or the uncertainty of never knowing what exactly happened. When he took off his boots it is clear to everyone that this was a premeditated act to take his own life. It left no doubt.

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[–] caroaber 17 years ago

I saw the removal of his boots as part of a ritual. Yes, it was premeditated. But even the drink of water seemed ritualistic. Just my thoughts, I'm not a psychiatrist. But the first time I saw the movie I was surprised, shocked. Who knew?

--Carolyn B.

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[–] zeljana-maric 12 years ago

I agree with both posts above. His act is definitely premeditated. Also, we could regard leaving his boots there as an act of finally becoming himself. He wore "somebody else's shoes" up until that moment. It was a moment of liberation for him. It was like the moment when Matteo stopped trying to become Nicola.

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[–] smarr 20 years ago

Thanks! That's a really good point...The landlady is weeping the next morning that she doesn't think it's a suicide, and Giovanna snaps at her to be quiet.

I did not know if there was any symbolic significance, perhaps specific to Italy. (Or maybe I have spent too much time contemplating the cover of "Abbey Road" and think shoeless men are some kind of message...)

But they way in which Matteo goes to the balcony, removes his boots, then steps back inside briefly to say "Buon Anno" - there is something deliberate in that. Thanks for the observation!

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[–] Lavake 20 years ago

esbiker indeed has a good point, one that i hadn't thought of.

however, i can't help but think that his suicide was an impulsive decision. obviously, things weren't going well for him and he wasn't happy, but i don't think that leaving the family new year party, or watering the plants, or taking off his boots were all part of a suicide plan. why would he close the window, go inside, say happy new year, open the window and then jump? if it was his plan all along, wouldn't he have left the window open?

i'm just guessing here. my theory doesn't explain the boot-thing either. personally, i feel like matteo was very messed up - his agressive outburts, weird behaviour, strange decisions - and a very impulsive guy. i think he didn't know what he was doing that evening and with his life in general.

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[–] prismpictures 19 years ago

I guess i agree with Lavake that Matteo taking off his boots was not part of a plan...It feels like Matteo taking off his boots while on the balcony was a way to briefly distract himself from the intense loneliness and pain he must have felt inside....like, you know when some really dreadful feeling is inside of you and you think, "oh, let me just put this away", or some other trivial thought, just to further delay whatever feeling or action that you will inevitably have to face, just to even briefly do some sort of action in the slight hope that it may divert your attention from the pain...same with him watering the plants, walking back into the apartment, closing the doors...it's as if he knew he was gonna kill himself, but was delaying it, he didn't want to...but i think saying "happy new years" to himself brought it all back and in an instant, the decision was finally made...

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[–] agcohn 19 years ago

I knew that he was going to kill himself because of how much of an emphasis was placed on the mundane activities within his apartment. For such a movie that covers such a long amount of time to place so much emphasis on seemingly nothing made me suspect that something terrible was impending. I guessed suicide, becuase of his emotional state at the time.

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[–] smarr 19 years ago

So I'm returning to this thread with a couple new thoughts...Well, thoughts borrowed from my mother. Now that the film is out on DVD in the US, she finally got a chance to see it. This of course launched a good lengthy discussion, and I asked her what she thought of Matteo taking off his boots.

She had two thoughts - one, it was a symbolic gesture. They were heavy military style boots, and taking them off was shedding his police persona before dying. And second, it was a practical consideration - that perhaps it was easier to launch himself over the balcony without them on. Both were interesting points, I thought.

See, it does pay to call your mom now and then.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] zeurotrash 15 years ago

I think that watering the plants was his way of following orders. He was told that he should water the plants and not track mud into the house. He had certain rites that he followed. He was complicated. This is a slice of everyone's life. Not enough footage was devoted to the mother, but you gathered that she was a very fine compasionate woman. The entire family were good people who raised fine children, yet Matteo could find no peace.

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[–] Asa_Nisi_Masa 19 years ago

My sister-in-law is a nurse who works in intensive care - this means she occasionally comes into close contact with suicide attempt victims. She hadn't seen La Meglio Gioventù until a few months ago (which is weird, considered just about everyone in Italy's seen it, if not at the cinema then on TV or on DVD!). What she recently told me about Matteo's boot-removing gesture was spine-chilling: apparently, people who attempt suicide will normally do this, something so poignant and mysterious IMO - just the thought of it brings a lump to my throat. It is a common, even almost compulsory gesture of someone who is about to kill themselves to lucidly remove their shoes beforehand.

Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, the screenwriters are very interested and grounded in psychiatry, which is why the mental sanity theme is so prevalent in the whole movie - it doesn't surprise me that they therefore would have known this. It was also not the first time they wrote a screenplay with such a theme. The movie is therefore realistic and sound even under scrutiny by a psychologist or psychiatric doctor! How many works of fiction could boast such a thing? The boot-removing sequence and what follows (the mother flinging her dead son's books into the street with her two other children clinging to her and begging her to stop) have got to be some of the most chilling and painful scenes ever filmed.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Asa_Nisi_Masa 19 years ago

we see him boots-first as the camera pans up over his bare legs, boxers, bare chest, and, finally, his face...

mmmmmm... yes! Don't I remember that camera lingering over the lovely physique of Alessio Boni! Mother nature was indeed very generous with his share of the looker genes.

On a more serious note: YES, very interesting observation about those boots: this movie is made of so many of these intricate little visual clues. Repeated viewings definitely make you discover more intriguing layers of meaning! I never thought about the 1984 analogy but I guess it's yet another matter to be pondered!

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[–] smarr 19 years ago

Thank you both for your thoughts! I found the gesture of taking the boots off fascinating because it was so chilling, I knew something terrible was happening, but I did not quite understand the exact literal meaning. (And I think this is true of many of Matteo's actions, actually - Alessio Boni does such a good job of showing us what Matteo feels, but never what he thinks, since that is a mystery even to him...)

My second viewing of the film at home made me notice many of these "book end" actions that happen in parts 1 and 2 - like panning up from Matteo's feet to head. The other is of course the carrying of the TV - the action that opens the film (when Matteo is too absorbed in his studies to help) and the landlady telling him how the TV (which is on as he dies) had to be carried up four flights...

Perhaps I should start a thread on that topic...

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] robnicoletti 18 years ago

I've read all through the comments and i've found many of them interesting and clever. However I think it wasn't already pointed out before that the initial scene with the carrying of the TV is both symbolic and predictive of the main event of the movie.
After Carlo and Nicola load the television on the car, Matteo father's asked to Carlo his feelings about Matteo (while Nicola was also there).

Matteo refused to help carrying down the television so he's not joying the scene, but note how his place has been taken by the Skeleton (skeleton has a strong value of Death).

So there were two links in the scene, good smarr has already talked about how the TV had a role in the scene mentioned above and the Matteo's latest scene.

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[–] smarr 19 years ago

A quick Google search turned up this, Asa Nisi Masa:

Q. Why do Japanese people remove their shoes when they commit suicide?

A. The simple answer is that they are copying what they see in ‘trendy dramas’ where suicides are common and shoes are often removed. The origin of the practice probably lies in the same place as the idea of taking off your shoes when you enter a house. Shoes are considered dirty and when one steps up to enter a house one leaves one’s dirty shoes behind. Taking off one’s shoes before one jumps symbolizes leaving the filth and dirt of the material world behind. Removing one’s shoes also serves the practical purpose of showing that your death was not an accident.

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[–] Asa_Nisi_Masa 19 years ago

You're welcome. Your posts are also very informative and interesting indeed.

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[–] cpuller-642-329716 13 years ago

What she recently told me about Matteo's boot-removing gesture was spine-chilling: apparently, people who attempt suicide will normally do this, something so poignant and mysterious IMO - just the thought of it brings a lump to my throat. It is a common, even almost compulsory gesture of someone who is about to kill themselves to lucidly remove their shoes beforehand.

For some reason I knew he would jump or I saw the possibility when he took them off.
Its like you come to this world with nothing and you also leave with nothing, the shoes feel at least the most unatural of your clothing.

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[–] tigerg3 19 years ago

Interesting question! what about the connection to Achille... achille's heel...!

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] VladimirK 16 years ago

I think what made this scene feel even more real in a way was the way Matteo didn't make a huge fuss about jumping over the balcony.
It was the way he walked forward and calmly went over.

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[–] pvd295 16 years ago

For me, that made it more shcoking - it was totally unexpected (for me).

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[–] yoli-1 15 years ago

I agree about that - no big fuss. I didn't see it coming (him jumping over the balcony). Yet after he jumped, I wasn't surprised at all. I felt relieved as if it was the only thing he could do (not sure if i'm clear enough abt this...)

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