Ears

A man wakes up with a painful ringing in his ear and to a note that reads, “Your friend Luigi is dead! I’m sorry. PS: I took the car…” But who’s Luigi? This is just one of the many questions the unnamed protagonist (Daniele Parisi) must ask himself in this absurd tragicomedy by writer-director Alessandro Aronadio (One Life, Maybe Two, a 2010 Open Roads selection). Unfolding in a single day, Ears upsets a hapless man’s routine with a series of hilarious, Kafkaesque situations involving meddlesome nuns, bumbling doctors, and a perplexing array of bureaucratic mishaps. Aronadio’s black-and-white, aspect ratio–shifting second feature is a one-of-a-kind comedy that surprises and delights with unassuming humor and a quirky supporting cast.