Rent Human Capital (2013)

Empty and muddled - Human Capital review by Alphaville

It must have been a thin year when this won best film at the 2014 Italian Golden Globes. Chapter 1: An estate agent gets out of his depth in a loss-making investment fund. Chapter 2: we see the whole scenario again from the fund manager’s wife’s point of view. After an hour, all this becomes irrelevant in Chapter 3, when the estate agent’s daughter takes centre stage and we get a plot about a cyclist being killed in a hit-and-run accident.

Human Capital? That’s a calculation used by insurers and has nothing to do with the film until we get an explanation as the credits roll. The film’s repeated scenes as the chapters are replayed could have been interesting if the different characters’ points of view were connected or held any interest. Instead it’s a muddled and undeveloped exercise that goes nowhere.

Thoughtful drama. - Human Capital review by RideFlame

A story about people. A tragic incident occurs and we are shown the events that led to this. We watch the hopes and fears of all involved unfold, as seen through each person's eyes. We see how each thread of hope, fear and lie, weaves together a net. And watch as the net begins to pull people down into destruction. Beautifully acted, with the role of the estate agent played as if by an Italian version of Alan Partridge.