Mouth of the Wolf and Lost and Beautiful 03/23 Blu-ray (Rental)

Pietro Marcello's hauntingly beautiful debut feature The Mouth of the Wolf interweaves two love stories: the 20-year romance between a Sicilian tough guy and a transsexual former junkie whom he met in prison, and a poetic reverie of the Italian port town of Genoa, depicted in all its mysterious, fading glory. In Lost and Beautiful, a humble shepherd, Tommaso, takes it upon himself to look after the abandoned Bourbon palace of Carditello, deep in the heart of the "Land of Fires." One day, Tommaso is seized by a heart attack and dies; but not before making a final wish. He summons a masked character named Pulcinella to rescue a buffalo calf called Sarchiopone from the forsaken palace. Together, man and beast, embark on a long journey through a lost and beautiful Italy, searching for something which may no longer exist. Critic's Pick. Impressionistic, extravagantly poetic. Mysteriously beautiful. A melancholy rumination on time, love and decay. The Mouth of the Wolf will haunt you. --Stephen Holden, The New York Times Critic's Pick! Mr. Marcello tells a simple, touching tale that seems to contain a whole cosmos of meaning. --A.O. Scott, The New York Times