CRIME NOVEL
**** out of *****

Reviewed by Mike Cavanaugh

Screening in the 12th Cathay Pacific Italian Film Festival

Genres
Crime
Drama

2005
Directed by
Michele Placido 
Written by
Michele Placido
Giancarlo De Cataldo
Sandro Petraglia
Stefano Rulli
Cast
Kim Rossi Stuart - Il Freddo
Anna Mouglalis - Patrizia
Pierfrancesco Favino - Libano
Claudio Santamaria - Il Dandi
Stefano Accorsi - Commissario Scialoja
Riccardo Scamarcio - Il Nero
Jasmine Trinca - Roberta

Italian is a beautifully lyrical language, and it certainly helps to captivate an audience.  Even without the language though. Michele Placido manages to produce a gripping tale with Romanzo Criminale, though somewhat confusing at times, the film is definitely worth watching.

Romanzo Criminale, tells the story of the rise and fall of friends in gangland Italy, going from small time crooks as kids to the rulers of Rome.  They are an enthusiastic and organised group, led by Lebanese (Pierfrancesco Favino) and his two friends, Ice (Kim Rossi Stuart) and Dandy (Claudio Santamaria), with the Police Lieutenant Scialoia (Stefano Accorsi) forever trying to catch them at their game.

Like many of its kind, Romanzo Criminale could fade away into the category of good but not necessarily memorable films.  However, Romanzo Criminale does have glimpses of greatness.  In moving from gangs conquering Rome it slowly recasts the acts of terrorism in Italy round the 1970s as personal struggles caught up in the machine of political intrigue.  And as I said earlier, the actors are superb – for example Rossi Stuart portrays Ice as a tortured soul seemingly torn between his personal and professional life, and Favino creates a relentless monster in Lebanese.

Some suggest that Placido could have done better by drawing out some more of the conspiracy theories this raised.  However, I think that was his point entirely, as the heart of a conspiracy theory is that there will always be questions, intrigue and political blame, but we will never really know for sure.

I’m making this sound more like a conspiracy move and less like the gangland movie it is.  The focus is always on Lebanese, Ice and Dandy and their personal struggles.  Some struggle with realising their dreams of power, others with riches and woman, and others with keeping things together.  But we see and understand these struggles, and the cost that people bear for it.

This is a movie about extremes, and how these extremes can push friendships, love, and life.  The delicate moments between Ice and his girlfriend, Roberta (Jasmine Trinca), are sharply contrasted by the tension between Ice and Dandy, and the certainly unprofessional obsession of Lietenant Scialoia with Patrizia (Anna Mouglalis), Dandy’s girl (for want of a better word).  But these moments also go to show how far some will go to protect and get what they want.

Certainly, I think that had this been in the hands of Hollywood we would have seen nothing like this.  So Romanzo Criminale is more than a gang movie - it is a testament to the calibre of the Italian Film Industry, it sounds like a cliché, but clichés tend to be true.  I recommend it.

This film will screen in Wellington at The Paramount on October 26th at 3:00pm and on the 30th at 8:30pm.

Please refer to the homepage for the fesatival fpr more information on screenings in other parts of the country.