Paranza - Der Clan der Kinder

This afternoon, I discovered this rather interesting film without having preliminary read the eponymous book written by Roberto Saviano and published in 2018: a band of eight teenage boys still eating chocolate cookies and arguing with the little brother when a packet of biscuits was emptied without their preliminary agreement, take opportunely advantage of the fall of the Mafioso of their Neapolitan district to become caliph instead of the caliph, like Iznogoud in the famous cartoon created by René Goscinny and Jean Tabary, but with ethics and values like Vito Corleone played by Robert De Niro in Der Pate 2 (1974). I recognized the mesmerizing atmosphere of Naples, with its manifold alleys as hilly as lively. Moreover, the cast is overall of high quality, especially the main actor Francesco Di Napoli.

Now I'm not comparing this to City of God, just to be clear. I just like coming up with nice summary/pun lines. Connections can be made to a degree of course, but they can stop at the fact that you have kids and criminality as subject mater here. Having said that, the movie may feel slow to some. But it is quite impactful nonetheless. Not to mention that the style (in your face, the actors faces that is) is quite harrowing. It really puts you in the middle of it.

You may disagree with certain things, like the one central female character being swayed by macho and bully behavior ("male" king of the jungle style), but don't forget what world they all grew up in. So this is as authentic (or at least feels like it) as it gets. And the dialog (which may or may not be a bit improvised - otherwise kudos to the actors for conveying their emotions in such manner) is just on the spot! If you are into these types of movies, you'll rejoice and be "entertained". Otherwise maybe you'd like to stay away from this

The film evidently won the screenplay award at Berlin because it is very true to ground reality of Naples. The title is appropriate. Teenagers who cannot see a future, become small time Godfathers, collecting protection money and selling drugs, working in large groups to get a menacing visibility. My problem with the film: where are the cops? You see them just once during a wedding dinner sequence.

The film apparently uses non-actors. The lead role of Nicola played by Francesco di Napoli is notable, as is the role of his screen mother toiling away to make ends meet. Nicola's dad is never shown or discussed. Francesco could go places as an actor under the right director.

Average film--nothing great

I was surprised the ratings weren't higher. This is better than almost every modern Italian gangster movie. The acting is amazing and direction is very good. Paced very well. Nothing that unique in terms of plot but executed extremely well.

Good movie about the life of a very young gang that morphs into the new generation of the mob. It's directed very dryly which adds to the realism, but it falls into some of the usual tropes of mob movies. Solid performances throughout.