So profoundly simple, yet poignant. It starts off like a story about rural life and then becomes an exploratory undertaking, then seems to have some supernatural connection between the old shepherd and the explorers. Finally, it concludes with the end of the exploration and the eerie calls of the shepherd across the valley.

Sometimes every day things can be art, and Michelangelo Frammartino has proven it.

You'll need widescreen and HD to fully experience this cinematic gem.

Beautiful shots, very atmospheric. If that's your thing.

The film itself is very boring however. It doesn't have almost any dialogue which adds to the magical and idyllic atmosphere of the movie but also makes it drag on.

I think Il Buco is one of those films that you either connect with or you don't, and I most definitely did. There's no dialogue but instead the viewer kind of 'overhears' that conversations are taking place amongst the characters bet are yet completely indiscernible. We can notice by the sounds of laughter if it's a happy or playful conversation, or within the context of the visuals what might be communicated. It kind of makes you realize that the specific words aren't really important, just the end, final message and what was the consequential action that resulted from it. There's two stories, one of the speleologists exploring this as yet unknown cave in Italy and an older shepherd who observes the proceedings. Visually it's quite beautiful. The 'story' or message being told harder to articulate, trickier to detail, but like the treatment of the dialogue itself, my lack of being able to communicate those specifics doesn't matter, all I can say is that I was moved by Il Buco and enjoyed every moment of it.