★★☆☆☆ Following a Malickian break between films - his debut Round the Moons Between Earth and Sea was released in 1997 - Giuseppe M. Gaudino tells with For Your Love (2015), the final entry to compete for the Golden Lion at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, a tale of ordinary madness told in an extraordinary but often scattergun way. The woman on the verge of as nervous breakdown is Anna Ruotolo Scaglione, played by Italian actor and director Valeria Golino. A long musical introduction Neapolitan dialect introduces us to Anna as a "capascaqua" or "featherbrain" as the subtitles would have it. However, right from the start Gaudino suggests that Anna is suffering from a quite severe mental illness.
Anna's general unhappiness is already evident from her face, but as if that wasn't enough For Your Love is mostly played out in an ill-conceived monochrome palette reminiscent of those adverts for Calvin Klein's Obsession.
Anna's general unhappiness is already evident from her face, but as if that wasn't enough For Your Love is mostly played out in an ill-conceived monochrome palette reminiscent of those adverts for Calvin Klein's Obsession.
- 9/12/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Corpo Celeste
Writen by Alice Rohrwacher
Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
2011, Italy
Corpo Celeste acts as a guide for the uninitiated into the oppressive realm of religious fundamentalism and traditional thinking. The lens under which viewers examine this heady subject matter belongs to a budding adolescent named Marta (played with precocious dignity by newcomer Yile Vianello). Marta has spent most of her formative years growing up in Switzerland, but at the outset of the movie she and her mother have recently returned to Calabria, Italy, the village of Marta’s birth. Her initiation into what feels like a completely alien society comes with catechism classes, since life in Calabria revolves entirely around the Catholic faith. Marta is only marginally acquainted with Catholicism, but she must suffer through confirmation if she hopes to gain acceptance or if she ever wants to get married.
Debut filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher achieves no small task in...
Writen by Alice Rohrwacher
Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
2011, Italy
Corpo Celeste acts as a guide for the uninitiated into the oppressive realm of religious fundamentalism and traditional thinking. The lens under which viewers examine this heady subject matter belongs to a budding adolescent named Marta (played with precocious dignity by newcomer Yile Vianello). Marta has spent most of her formative years growing up in Switzerland, but at the outset of the movie she and her mother have recently returned to Calabria, Italy, the village of Marta’s birth. Her initiation into what feels like a completely alien society comes with catechism classes, since life in Calabria revolves entirely around the Catholic faith. Marta is only marginally acquainted with Catholicism, but she must suffer through confirmation if she hopes to gain acceptance or if she ever wants to get married.
Debut filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher achieves no small task in...
- 6/12/2012
- by Kenneth
- SoundOnSight
The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists (U)
(Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt, 2012, UK/Us) Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton. 88 mins
Aardman sets sail on seas of clay, in what feels more like an animated Blackadder than Pirates Of The Caribbean. Grant's inept rogue is good company, falling foul (or rather fowl) of Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin in a nonsensical, if inconsequential, romp that's lifted, as usual, by Aardman's eccentric details and fine craftsmanship.
Into The Abyss (12A)
(Werner Herzog, 2011, Us/UK/Ger) 107 mins
Herzog studies a Texas homicide from all angles, building less a polemic against the death penalty than a humane survey of death and loss.
This Is Not A Film (U)
(Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi, 2010, Ira) 75 mins
Panahi boldly defies his own house arrest by "not making" a film within his apartment, the confinement provoking a profound questioning of cinema itself.
Wrath Of The Titans (12A)
(Jonathan Liebesman,...
(Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt, 2012, UK/Us) Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton. 88 mins
Aardman sets sail on seas of clay, in what feels more like an animated Blackadder than Pirates Of The Caribbean. Grant's inept rogue is good company, falling foul (or rather fowl) of Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin in a nonsensical, if inconsequential, romp that's lifted, as usual, by Aardman's eccentric details and fine craftsmanship.
Into The Abyss (12A)
(Werner Herzog, 2011, Us/UK/Ger) 107 mins
Herzog studies a Texas homicide from all angles, building less a polemic against the death penalty than a humane survey of death and loss.
This Is Not A Film (U)
(Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi, 2010, Ira) 75 mins
Panahi boldly defies his own house arrest by "not making" a film within his apartment, the confinement provoking a profound questioning of cinema itself.
Wrath Of The Titans (12A)
(Jonathan Liebesman,...
- 3/30/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
This accomplished, naturalistic tale of a girl preparing for her confirmation in southern Italy feels autobiographical
This first fiction feature from a 30-year-old Italian director feels densely observed, transparently personal and autobiographical, despite being notionally based on a novel of the same name by Anna Maria Ortese. Marta, played by non-professional newcomer Yle Vianello, is a 13-year-old preparing for confirmation in southern Italy under the tutelage of Don Mario, a withdrawn and jaded priest, secretly angling for a more prestigious living elsewhere. He is played by Salvatore Cantalupo, last seen here in Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah. Marta and the other kids are being coached by the motherly, stressed-out Santa (Pasqualina Scuncia) who has to deal with her complex feelings of betrayal at Don Mario's plans, which climax in his faintly bizarre quest to salvage a crucifix from an abandoned church in his home village – whose elderly priest has an ambiguous,...
This first fiction feature from a 30-year-old Italian director feels densely observed, transparently personal and autobiographical, despite being notionally based on a novel of the same name by Anna Maria Ortese. Marta, played by non-professional newcomer Yle Vianello, is a 13-year-old preparing for confirmation in southern Italy under the tutelage of Don Mario, a withdrawn and jaded priest, secretly angling for a more prestigious living elsewhere. He is played by Salvatore Cantalupo, last seen here in Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah. Marta and the other kids are being coached by the motherly, stressed-out Santa (Pasqualina Scuncia) who has to deal with her complex feelings of betrayal at Don Mario's plans, which climax in his faintly bizarre quest to salvage a crucifix from an abandoned church in his home village – whose elderly priest has an ambiguous,...
- 3/30/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Following up their initial competition announcement the folks at the Sundance Film Festival have released the names of thirty additional 2012 selections, in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, Next, and New Frontiers sections.
Although these sections tend to focus more on young and up-and-coming filmmakers (particularly the Next sidebar, which was created just a few years ago with that specific mandate), you might find a few names you recognize in the full list of invited films below. Next is where you'll find the new film from "Great World of Sound" director Craig Zobel; it's called "Compliance" and it's described as the (based-on-a-)true story of what happens "when a prank caller convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee." Lynn Shelton, director of "Humpday," will premiere "Your Sister's Sister" starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and "Humpday"s Mark Duplass. Duplass also wrote his wife Katie Aselton...
Although these sections tend to focus more on young and up-and-coming filmmakers (particularly the Next sidebar, which was created just a few years ago with that specific mandate), you might find a few names you recognize in the full list of invited films below. Next is where you'll find the new film from "Great World of Sound" director Craig Zobel; it's called "Compliance" and it's described as the (based-on-a-)true story of what happens "when a prank caller convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee." Lynn Shelton, director of "Humpday," will premiere "Your Sister's Sister" starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and "Humpday"s Mark Duplass. Duplass also wrote his wife Katie Aselton...
- 12/2/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Sundance continues to announce their lineups for each program and now we have the list of movies featured in the Spotlight section – the non-competition section where the festival screens some of their favourite films from other fests. Here is the lineup for 2012.
Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place, restlessly testing the boundaries of an unfamiliar city and the catechism of the Catholic church. Cast: Yle Vianello, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentiere.
Declaration Of War / Belgium (Director: Valérie Donzelli, Screenwriters: Jérémie Elkaïm, Valérie Donzelli) — A young couple embark upon a painful, enlightening journey when they discover that their newborn child is very ill. Cast: Valérie Donzelli, Jérémie Elkaïm, César Desseix. North American Premiere.
Elena / Russia (Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev, Screenwriter: Oleg Negin) — A meditative, modern-noir tale about an older woman,...
Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place, restlessly testing the boundaries of an unfamiliar city and the catechism of the Catholic church. Cast: Yle Vianello, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentiere.
Declaration Of War / Belgium (Director: Valérie Donzelli, Screenwriters: Jérémie Elkaïm, Valérie Donzelli) — A young couple embark upon a painful, enlightening journey when they discover that their newborn child is very ill. Cast: Valérie Donzelli, Jérémie Elkaïm, César Desseix. North American Premiere.
Elena / Russia (Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev, Screenwriter: Oleg Negin) — A meditative, modern-noir tale about an older woman,...
- 12/2/2011
- by Kyle Reese
- SoundOnSight
Yesterday Sundance released their films up for competition for the 2012 festival. But that was only one half of the festival slate. Now Sundance has released the second half of films that will be released as part of the festivities. Films in competition are just as interesting as those not in competition and with titles The Raid and Wuthering Heights are all on the list, it will be a fun watch this year.
Check out the list for the Out of Competition film that can be seen at the Sundance Film Festival 2012 below.
Spotlight
Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place, restlessly testing the boundaries of an unfamiliar city and the catechism of the Catholic church.Cast: Yle Vianello, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentiere.
Declaration Of War / Belgium (Director: Valérie Donzelli,...
Check out the list for the Out of Competition film that can be seen at the Sundance Film Festival 2012 below.
Spotlight
Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place, restlessly testing the boundaries of an unfamiliar city and the catechism of the Catholic church.Cast: Yle Vianello, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentiere.
Declaration Of War / Belgium (Director: Valérie Donzelli,...
- 12/1/2011
- by Mike Lee
- FusedFilm
Yesterday The Sundance Film Festival released their list of In-Competition films, today they have released their line-up of Non-Competition films. I've had a blast every year that I've attended The Sundance Film Festival, it's always a surprise! You never know what movie you are going to see until you see it. If you ever get a chance to go I highly recommend that you do. Each film on the list has a little description next to it. The festival will take place January 19th to the 29th.
Check out the list of movies below and let us know of any that you are interested in watching or hearing about so that we can get it covered for you. Some of the films might look familiar to you such as The Raid, Grabbers and Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, and Wuthering Heights. The Raid is at the top of...
Check out the list of movies below and let us know of any that you are interested in watching or hearing about so that we can get it covered for you. Some of the films might look familiar to you such as The Raid, Grabbers and Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, and Wuthering Heights. The Raid is at the top of...
- 12/1/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Welcome to Day Two of Kate Christmas. Yesterday, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival announced their first wave of programming, featuring twenty-six titles that will be screening in competition. While the arrival of those titles was enough to send me into a tizzy I have still not recovered from, today the festival has only piled on the pre-holiday goodies with the announcement of their Spotlight, Next, Park City at Midnight, and New Frontiers films. A few titles of note to get your juices flowing - Gareth Evans‘ The Raid (also known round these parts as “oh, hell yeah”), Andrea Arnold‘s take on Wuthering Heights, Katie Aselton‘s second directorial outing Black Rock (scripted by her husband Mark Duplass), Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, Mike Birbiglia and Seth Barrish‘s Sleepwalk With Me (based on Birbiglia’s hilarious book), and Lynn Shelton‘s Your Sister’s Sister. Again, that’s just a taste, so...
- 12/1/2011
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Yesterday the Sundance Film Festival announced the core lineup of films [1] that will be spotlit in the Competition slates at the 2012 festival. Now we've got a lineup of films that will play out of competition in the Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, Next <=> and New Frontier schedules. There are a few films in here with which you might be nominally familiar, like The Raid, Grabbers and Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, not to mention Andrea Arnold's new version of Wuthering Heights. But many are new announcements. While the competition lineups are always a good place to look for some of the films that will be the most talked-about in the year following each Sundance fest, these schedules are where some of the more unique and provocative films live. There are still some big premieres to be announced next week, but if I was making a big Sundance wishlist,...
- 12/1/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Sundance continues to roll out the lineup announcements with the Spotlight section. The non-competition section where the festival screens favorites from other festivals around the world this is a great way to catch up on the best of what you may have missed elsewhere:Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) -- After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place, restlessly testing the boundaries of an unfamiliar city and the catechism of the Catholic church. Cast: Yle Vianello, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentiere. Declaration Of War / Belgium (Director: Valérie Donzelli, Screenwriters: Jérémie Elkaïm, Valérie Donzelli) -- A young couple embark upon a painful, enlightening journey when they discover that their...
- 12/1/2011
- Screen Anarchy
Getty Images The marquee of the Egyptian Theater announces the Sundance Film Festival
Yesterday, the Sundance Institute announced its in-competition narrative and documentary films for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Today, they announced their out-of-competition film in the Spotlight, Midnight, Next and New Frontier sections. The full list is below:
Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.
Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After...
Yesterday, the Sundance Institute announced its in-competition narrative and documentary films for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Today, they announced their out-of-competition film in the Spotlight, Midnight, Next and New Frontier sections. The full list is below:
Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.
Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After...
- 12/1/2011
- by Michelle Kung
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Following yesterday's announcement of the titles lined up for the four programs of the Competition, the Sundance Film Festival has unveiled the lineups of its out-of-competition sections: Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, Next <=> and New Frontier. This time, I'm going to go ahead and copy-n-paste the release nearly in full because, well, these are, potentially at least, the more interesting batches.
We'll cut in just as Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, is saying, “In many ways, the extremes of the Festival’s program are most readily apparent in our out-of-competition sections, which showcase the wildest comedies, the most terrifying horror films and uncompromised visions from singular voices springing up from around the country and the world. We hope audiences experiment with their film selections to an equal degree as these filmmakers have experimented with their storytelling.”
Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world,...
We'll cut in just as Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, is saying, “In many ways, the extremes of the Festival’s program are most readily apparent in our out-of-competition sections, which showcase the wildest comedies, the most terrifying horror films and uncompromised visions from singular voices springing up from around the country and the world. We hope audiences experiment with their film selections to an equal degree as these filmmakers have experimented with their storytelling.”
Spotlight
Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world,...
- 12/1/2011
- MUBI
It'll be a Tiff does Sundance this year in the Spotlight Program as the majority of the films programmed in the section (which staffers state, "regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love") are films that moved from Cannes to Tiff en route to Sundance or had their world premieres at Tiff and are moving into Park City. Among the highlights we have have several Foreign Oscar submissions in Declaration Of War (France), Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) and Where Do We Go Now? (Lebanon), we have heavyweight audience favorites from Tiff in Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister and Gareth Evans' The Raid and Andrea Arnold will have her U.S premiere for Wuthering Heights in Park City. Among the "must see" titles in the batch of nine is Andrei Zvyagintsev's Elena - (see pic above...
- 12/1/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Following yesterday’s announcement of competition titles, Sundance Film Festival 2012 have announced the line-up for a few more sections today. In their Spotlight section we have a few of my favorite Tiff titles, including Wuthering Heights (pictured above), Your Sister’s Sister, as well as audience-winners The Raid and Where Do We Go Now? We also get the insane-looking Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie in the midnight section. Check out the list below.
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today the films selected to screen in the 2012 Sundance Film Festival out-of-competition sections Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, Next <=> and New Frontier. The Festival takes place from January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival.
Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In many ways, the extremes of the...
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today the films selected to screen in the 2012 Sundance Film Festival out-of-competition sections Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, Next <=> and New Frontier. The Festival takes place from January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The complete list of films is available at www.sundance.org/festival.
Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In many ways, the extremes of the...
- 12/1/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
2012 Sundance Film Festival Sets Competition Slate The Sundance Institute has added to the 2012 Sundance Film Festival program by announcing the films for its out-of-competition sections Spotlight, Midnight, Next and New Frontier categories. There are surely more films to come — rumors are that titles including the Stephen Frears-directed Lay The Favorite are expected to premiere in Park City. The festival program is shaping up nicely, with a ton of films that don’t have distribution deals and have a decidedly independent flavor. “In many ways, the extremes of thefFestival’s program are most readily apparent in our out-of-competition sections, which showcase the wildest comedies, the most terrifying horror films and uncompromised visions from singular voices spring up from around the country and the world,” said festival programming director Trevor Groth. Here are the program additions: Spotlight Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy...
- 12/1/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Today the out-of-competition films were announced for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
The complete list of titles are below. See the films in competition here.
Some of the highlights here include the U.S. premiere of Lynn Shelton‘s Your Sister’s Sister, which received a lot of buzz at Toronto; Katie Aselton‘s thriller Black Rock starring Lake Bell and Kate Bosworth; found footage horror V/H/S directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg and Radio Silence; and Craig Zobel‘s follow-up to The Great World of Sound, Compliance and Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (no further description needed).
Films in the Premieres sections will be announced Dec. 5. The 2012 Sundance Film Festival takes place Jan. 19-29.
Spotlight
Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place,...
The complete list of titles are below. See the films in competition here.
Some of the highlights here include the U.S. premiere of Lynn Shelton‘s Your Sister’s Sister, which received a lot of buzz at Toronto; Katie Aselton‘s thriller Black Rock starring Lake Bell and Kate Bosworth; found footage horror V/H/S directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg and Radio Silence; and Craig Zobel‘s follow-up to The Great World of Sound, Compliance and Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (no further description needed).
Films in the Premieres sections will be announced Dec. 5. The 2012 Sundance Film Festival takes place Jan. 19-29.
Spotlight
Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place,...
- 12/1/2011
- by Jason Guerrasio
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Corpo Celeste
Writen by Alice Rohrwacher
Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
2011, Italy
Corpo Celeste acts as a guide for the uninitiated into the oppressive realm of religious fundamentalism and traditional thinking. The lens under which viewers examine this heady subject matter belongs to a budding adolescent named Marta (played with precocious dignity by newcomer Yile Vianello). Marta has spent most of her formative years growing up in Switzerland, but at the outset of the movie she and her mother have recently returned to Calabria, Italy, the village of Marta’s birth. Her initiation into what feels like a completely alien society comes with catechism classes, since life in Calabria revolves entirely around the Catholic faith. Marta is only marginally acquainted with Catholicism, but she must suffer through confirmation if she hopes to gain acceptance or if she ever wants to get married.
Debut filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher achieves no small task in...
Writen by Alice Rohrwacher
Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
2011, Italy
Corpo Celeste acts as a guide for the uninitiated into the oppressive realm of religious fundamentalism and traditional thinking. The lens under which viewers examine this heady subject matter belongs to a budding adolescent named Marta (played with precocious dignity by newcomer Yile Vianello). Marta has spent most of her formative years growing up in Switzerland, but at the outset of the movie she and her mother have recently returned to Calabria, Italy, the village of Marta’s birth. Her initiation into what feels like a completely alien society comes with catechism classes, since life in Calabria revolves entirely around the Catholic faith. Marta is only marginally acquainted with Catholicism, but she must suffer through confirmation if she hopes to gain acceptance or if she ever wants to get married.
Debut filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher achieves no small task in...
- 9/23/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – Matteo Garrone’s revelatory crime picture joins the esteemed group of worthy foreign film Oscar contenders (like “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”) inexplicably snubbed by the Academy. But such accolades are meaningless compared to the reaction it has received, breaking box office records in its limited release, while acquiring the passionate support of film icons like Martin Scorsese. It has gained a reputation for being the “ultimate Mafia movie” (even though it’s actually about a different crime family), besting everything from “The Godfather” and “GoodFellas” to “The Sopranos.”
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Yet Garrone doesn’t even attempt to mimic the larger-than-life style and scope of Coppola or Scorsese, and his film achieves an entirely different kind of greatness, stripping away any shred of romanticism or artifice to reveal the primal horror lying behind scenes of deceptively mundane life. His film also has the distinction of being set in modern-day Italy,...
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Yet Garrone doesn’t even attempt to mimic the larger-than-life style and scope of Coppola or Scorsese, and his film achieves an entirely different kind of greatness, stripping away any shred of romanticism or artifice to reveal the primal horror lying behind scenes of deceptively mundane life. His film also has the distinction of being set in modern-day Italy,...
- 12/1/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In my "B" review of Gomorrah last December I opened saying "its dedication to [Roberto Saviano's non-fiction story] causes the film to lack focus as it spreads itself too thin by telling five separate stories." After seeing it a second time I still stand by this statement, but not as adamantly as I did before. A repeat viewing benefits this film greatly and Criterion's Blu-ray presentation is slick and engrossing, even if the supplemental material can go on a little too long.
As a film we are witness to the world of guns, drugs, illegal toxic waste disposal and even haute couture, all involving organized crime in Naples. The organization, known as the Camorra, is wrapped up not only in illegal activities, but they reinvest their money in legal activities, which is expanded on in the included interviews on this disc, which also stress the hot bed of trouble that found author Roberto Saviano...
As a film we are witness to the world of guns, drugs, illegal toxic waste disposal and even haute couture, all involving organized crime in Naples. The organization, known as the Camorra, is wrapped up not only in illegal activities, but they reinvest their money in legal activities, which is expanded on in the included interviews on this disc, which also stress the hot bed of trouble that found author Roberto Saviano...
- 11/24/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Release Date: Dec. 19 (limited), Feb. 13
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
- 2/12/2009
- Pastemagazine.com
Release Date: Dec. 19 (limited), Feb. 13
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
- 12/15/2008
- Pastemagazine.com
Film Review: Gomorra, Cannes, In Competition
Powerful, stripped to its very essence and featuring a spectacular cast (of mostly non-professionals), Matteo Garrone's sixth feature film "Gomorra" goes beyond Tarrantino's gratuitous violence and even Scorsese's Hollywood sensibility in depicting the everyday reality of organized crime's foot soldiers. The characters of the film's five stories all work for the Camorra - the Neapolitan "mafia" behind over 4,000 murders in 30 years in Italy, and countless illegal activities - and besides being extremely dangerous are relentless, petty and anything but wise.
Success at home is virtually guaranteed for "Gomorra" as it's based on Roberto Saviano's eponymous 2006 bestseller (1.2 million copies sold, translated into 33 languages) and the build-up to its release along with selection in competition at Cannes have created a huge buzz in Italy. Internationally, the film has sold to a handful of European territories so far, as well as Canada, though buyers are expected to grow significantly after Cannes.
"Gomorra" is one of the rare dramatic films to come out of Italy in recent years that has the appeal to play well theatrically, at least in Europe, and in festivals worldwide. In the U.S., it should play to the widest possible range of Art House audiences looking for a thinking person's mafia movie.
At times slow and documentary-like, "Gomorra" is tension-filled and highly realistic. (Author and co-screenwriter Saviano, 29, has been under police escort even since the book was published.) Shot predominantly in Naples' Scampia neighborhood - an architectural nightmare of enormous rundown apartment blocks - the film never caters to those looking for the kind of adrenaline or over-the-top humor or glamor that's come to be associated with the genre.
Garrone neither judges nor idolizes in his sober approach, and restrains from too many other indulgences, artistic or formulaic, beyond handheld camera work and numerous close-ups. And the faces he chooses, predominantly people plucked from the streets on which he films, make most movie mafiosos look like models.
Even the film's soundtrack (Neapolitan pop music, sparingly used) adds to the overall feel of background rather than imposing a mood. Garrone also makes use of total silence and, rather than coming across as a manipulative film school trick, it only enhances particularly emotional scenes.
Apart from the film's most notable star, Toni Servillo, other standout performances come from Gianfelice Imparatore, Salvatore Cantalupo, Carmine Paternoster and 13-year-old Salvatore Abruzzese.
Cast: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo, Gigio Morra, Salvatore Abruzzese, Marco Macor, Ciro Petrone, Carmine Paternoster. Director: Matteo Garrone. Screenwriters: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano. Producer: Domenico Procacci. Director of photography: Marco Onorato. Production designer: Paolo Bonfini. Costume designer: Alessandra Cardini. Editor: Marco Spoletini.
Production companies: Fandango, RAI Cinema
Sales Agent: Fandango Portobello Sales
No MPAA rating, 135 minutes.
Powerful, stripped to its very essence and featuring a spectacular cast (of mostly non-professionals), Matteo Garrone's sixth feature film "Gomorra" goes beyond Tarrantino's gratuitous violence and even Scorsese's Hollywood sensibility in depicting the everyday reality of organized crime's foot soldiers. The characters of the film's five stories all work for the Camorra - the Neapolitan "mafia" behind over 4,000 murders in 30 years in Italy, and countless illegal activities - and besides being extremely dangerous are relentless, petty and anything but wise.
Success at home is virtually guaranteed for "Gomorra" as it's based on Roberto Saviano's eponymous 2006 bestseller (1.2 million copies sold, translated into 33 languages) and the build-up to its release along with selection in competition at Cannes have created a huge buzz in Italy. Internationally, the film has sold to a handful of European territories so far, as well as Canada, though buyers are expected to grow significantly after Cannes.
"Gomorra" is one of the rare dramatic films to come out of Italy in recent years that has the appeal to play well theatrically, at least in Europe, and in festivals worldwide. In the U.S., it should play to the widest possible range of Art House audiences looking for a thinking person's mafia movie.
At times slow and documentary-like, "Gomorra" is tension-filled and highly realistic. (Author and co-screenwriter Saviano, 29, has been under police escort even since the book was published.) Shot predominantly in Naples' Scampia neighborhood - an architectural nightmare of enormous rundown apartment blocks - the film never caters to those looking for the kind of adrenaline or over-the-top humor or glamor that's come to be associated with the genre.
Garrone neither judges nor idolizes in his sober approach, and restrains from too many other indulgences, artistic or formulaic, beyond handheld camera work and numerous close-ups. And the faces he chooses, predominantly people plucked from the streets on which he films, make most movie mafiosos look like models.
Even the film's soundtrack (Neapolitan pop music, sparingly used) adds to the overall feel of background rather than imposing a mood. Garrone also makes use of total silence and, rather than coming across as a manipulative film school trick, it only enhances particularly emotional scenes.
Apart from the film's most notable star, Toni Servillo, other standout performances come from Gianfelice Imparatore, Salvatore Cantalupo, Carmine Paternoster and 13-year-old Salvatore Abruzzese.
Cast: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo, Gigio Morra, Salvatore Abruzzese, Marco Macor, Ciro Petrone, Carmine Paternoster. Director: Matteo Garrone. Screenwriters: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano. Producer: Domenico Procacci. Director of photography: Marco Onorato. Production designer: Paolo Bonfini. Costume designer: Alessandra Cardini. Editor: Marco Spoletini.
Production companies: Fandango, RAI Cinema
Sales Agent: Fandango Portobello Sales
No MPAA rating, 135 minutes.
- 5/17/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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