In the set’s shadows, a romance is triangulated

Davide Ferrario’s “After Midnight” is a sweet-natured romantic comedy that pays deft homage to early cinema but borrows its basic plot from “Jules and Jim.” It has a droll sensibility but is marred by dirge-like pacing and is seriously under-lighted -- so much so that it’s all but impossible to get a good look at its principal setting, Turin’s glorious Mole Antonelliana, an immense, soaring domed Beaux-Arts pile that is home to Italy’s National Museum of Cinema.

The off-screen narrator remarks that the museum’s wistful young night watchman, Martino (Giorgio Pasotti), exists somewhere between dreams and reality, and in this state is happy -- “if happiness means never wondering whether you’re happy.” Martino, who makes his own movies with an ancient hand-cranked camera, loves early silents, identifies with Buster Keaton and continually projects treasures from the museum’s vast archive for his own pleasure.

One night Martino’s solitary routine is interrupted by the striking Amanda (Francesca Inaudi), a fast-food cook who had finally had it with her martinet of a boss and tossed a vat of hot oil at him. She is seeking a refuge in which to lie low for a while until things cool off. In the meantime, she keeps in touch via cellphone with her boyfriend, Angel (Fabio Troiano), who just happens to make his living stealing cars. The innocent, introverted Martino finds himself unexpectedly drawn to Amanda, who in turns finds him a contrast to the sexy but unreliable Angel. A surprisingly good-natured triangle seems to be in the making.

Ferrario doesn’t overdo his homage to early cinema, and clips from the films that Martino so enjoys actually punctuate and underline what’s happening among his three principals. “After Midnight” has enough going for it to suggest that Ferrario is a filmmaker with a future, but he needs to pick up his pace and let his audience have a chance to see more clearly what’s going on.

*

‘After Midnight’

MPAA rating: Unrated

Times guidelines: Mature themes

An Avatar Films release. Writer-producer-director Davide Ferrario. Cinematographer Dante Cecchin. In Italian with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes.

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