I’ve just been to see a film about a man with a cough; it started as a tickle but then developed into death. Set in the sleepy idyll of rural Calabria, Le Quattro Volte was fabulous if you like goats, trees or smoke. It was a little sparse on plot: elderly goatherd has a tight chest so goes to the village church and buys a pochet of floor sweepings from a cleaner which he then dissolves into water and drinks while wearing a pair of combinations (there’s not many times you can bring a pair of combinations into a conversation, so I’m going to milk it. Please excuse the dairy pun). There are some rather nice close-ups, like the one of Mr Cough taking an al fresco dump (I’m wondering how he does this while wearing combinations but maybe he has a back flap).  We also see a few goats looking puzzled as some men dressed as Roman centurions pass by their pen en route to a crucifixion party. By way of animal contrast, we see some snails who must have super powers because they’re in a saucepan with a brick on top one minute, the next, they’ve escaped and are running riot in Mr Cough’s kitchenette. Then, Mr Cough stops coughing and pegs it, thank God and we move onto a long bit of nonsense involving a lot of burly men chopping down a tree, dragging it down a mountain and then putting it back up in the middle of the village. Finally, we get to see some men making charcoal which is quite a dirty affair. I won’t be going to Calabria in a hurry.