Trilogy - the Thought, the Look, the Word

Three small films for as many reflections on the senses and human knowledge. In the first episode, Emmer reviews with anthological and didactic intent the precepts of ancient philosophy, from Greek to Roman civilization; in the second, working as he did at the beginning of his career on a vast repertoire of pictorial and non-pictorial images, he analyzes the “history of the gaze” in the visual arts, from prehistoric graffiti to medieval altarpieces, from Impressionist and Cubist paintings to modern-day advertising posters; finally, in the third, recounting with irony and lightness a day of solitude in his mountain home, he reflects on the intellectual thinking of writers and great thinkers, relating to his own individual experience as much the words of oral tradition and popular culture as the writings of geniuses such as Shakespeare, Spinoza or Gogol.

Directed by Luciano Emmer, Trilogy - the Thought, the Look, the Word leans on a strong ensemble — Teresa Saponangelo, Franco Agostini, Philippe Charles Barbot — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2008.