The goats are the stars in Michelangelo Frammartino’s dialogue-free portrait of a remote Calabrian farming community.
It won’t be for everyone: even viewers who are sympathetic to the slow-as-daybreak pace may find themselves nodding off to the ever-present clatter of goat bells.
But stay awake for a magical sequence in the middle of the film, in which an Easter parade through the village gives way to utter havoc when the animals get free of their field.
This simple, deftly orchestrated sight gag is something Jacques Tati would have been proud to put his name to.
