Adagio - Erbarmungslose Stadt

As an Italian I am really proud to have a master of noir like Stefano Sollima, who to this day is the best director we have in Italy (yes, even better than Garrone and Sorrentino, good directors, but not like Stefano) and also this time with this "Adagio" the Roman director gives us a little gem of noir, we are not at the enormous levels of the Romanzo Criminale and Gomorrah TV series nor at the levels of a film like Suburra, but we are certainly faced with a good noir, solid and very dark and gloomy, told with great mastery and class and played by truly extraordinary actors, above all, as always, Pierfrancesco Favino who I can affirm is the real Italian Robert De Niro, but Valerio Mastandrea, Toni Servillo and a disturbing Adriano Giannini are no exception in the role of an unusual villain, as ruthless towards his victims as he is sweet and caring towards his children.

The cinematography by the always excellent Paolo Carnera immerses the spectator in a metropolitan nightmare made of fire and darkness and an almost dystopian imagery in which Sollima drags the spectator for the entire duration of the film and makes him participate in the dramas of our protagonists, in particularly those of the young Manuel, in fact, the only truly positive figure in the story, in fact it seems that Sollima places some hope for the future precisely on Manuel and more generally on the new generations.

The film ideologically concludes the narrative circle born with the Romanzo Criminale series and continued with the Suburra film, yes because Adagio tells the story of the last old and tired members of the Magliana who have now reached the end of the line in a sort of poignant and melancholic farewell.

Adagio is certainly not a masterpiece like Sollima's other works, but it is still a powerful and important film that must be seen and appreciated.

Rome is on fire! There is a fire somewhere near the Italian capital. Unbearable heat hangs over the Eternal City as Vasco (Adriano GIANNINI) prepares pasta for his two sons. But his eyes keep wandering to the tablet, which shows pictures of a strange party. There, 16-year-old Manuel (Gianmarco FRANCHINI), who has just been looking after his father (Toni SERVILLO) who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, is on some strange mission. Due to the forest fire nearby, there are frequent short power outages. The events at the party become increasingly obscene. It soon becomes clear that Manuel is not there voluntarily. He just wants out. But in the relentless city of Rome, in some circles you can't survive without the right people. In Manuel's case, these are his father's old friends (Valerio MASTANDREA as Pol Niuman and Pierfrancesco FAVINO as Cammello). With these veterans of Roman crime, Manuel can take on his blackmailers...

Director Stefano SOLLIMA only gradually allows his audience to decipher the complex background of his story. In beautiful images of the city of Rome, which shimmer with heat even at night, we experience a modern crime story with the ever-new ingredients of corruption, blackmail, murder and lost honor. Masterfully staged!

Two mega stars of Italian cinema deliver an absolute brilliant performance. Pierfrancesco FAVINO (EUROPEAN FILM AWARD Nominee 2019 for IL TRADITORE and 2022 for NOSTALGIA) and Toni SERVILLO (EUROPEAN FILM AWARD Winner 2008 for IL DIVO and 2013 for LA GRANDE BELLEZZA) could be aging revenants from the heyday of Italian gangster films of the 1970s and the 1980s. There is even a clever quote from the Hollywood classic THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995), about which, however, we shouldn't reveal too much.

As the son of ACADEMY AWARD nominee Giancarlo GIANNINI (nominated for PASQUALINO SETTEBELLEZZE in 1977), Adriano GIANNINI is certainly very familiar with CINECITTA's genre masterpieces. With films that Stefano SOLLIMA's father Sergio SOLLIMA could have directed. Adriano GIANNINI was also able to tame mega star MADONNA in SWEPT AWAY (2002) 20 years ago. Here he plays a devoted father who goes too far with his excessive duty of care and also drags two colleagues (Francesco Di LEVA and Lorenzo ADORNI) into the hellhole of crime.

In 2015, director Stefano SOLLIMA impressed heavily with the Italian gangster film SUBURRA. After that he was ready for Hollywood: SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO (2018) and WITHOUT REMORSE (2021). After earning money, he was now able to deliver a genre masterpiece again in Italy. The patience has paid off. In 2023, SOLLIMA was represented in competition at the Venice Film Festival with his remarkable genre film. In my opinion, an accolade that also honors all the films of the POLIZIOTTESCHI genre of the 1970s and 1980s!

In the box office, the film only managed to make $1,225,737 (source: IMDb). May he have more viewers in the programming of the streaming giant NETFLIX!!!

Stefano Sollima returns to delight viewers with his latest masterpiece, "Adagio," relying on the extraordinary performances of Toni Servillo, Pierfrancesco Favino, and Valerio Mastandrea. The film attracts, strikes, and entertains, immersing the audience in a decadent and mournful Rome, where the apocalyptic atmosphere is palpable in every scene. The plot revolves around Manuel, a sixteen-year-old boy entangled in a dangerous blackmail scheme orchestrated by a gang of corrupt carabinieri. In this story, we follow the lives of three former criminals who find themselves involved in one last adventure, facing their old demons. With mastery, director Stefano Sollima explores the dark side of human nature, showing desperation, corruption, and the path to redemption. Through a precise portrayal of the city, Sollima creates an intense and relentless atmosphere that envelops the characters in a whirlwind of violence and redemption. However, despite the undeniable visual appeal and the power of the performances, "Adagio" suffers from an incomplete screenplay, with characters not fully developed and some narrative twists that are not entirely plausible, compromising the coherence and completeness of the story. The climax and resolution are rushed and unsatisfying, leaving some questions open without a convincing conclusion. Nevertheless, the film still manages to capture the viewer's attention, immersing them in a dark and surreal universe where the boundary between good and evil becomes increasingly blurred. A metropolitan noir burning with passion and desire, ready to conquer the heart of anyone who loves art-house cinema. Highly recommended for those who love intense and engaging narratives.

What a crime movie, what an atmosphere, from the SUBURRA, ROMANZO CRIMINALLE and GOMORRA series maker.... I did not expect less anyway, and I was not deceived. This is long, slow, but so atmospheric, it is dark, gloommy, gritty and, I repeat, the directing is purely mindblowing. I hope Sollima's son - because Stefano is the son of the late Sergio - will this time stay in Italy instead of emigrating to the Hollywood crap industry and being a "gentle" yes man for the stock holders producers. SOLDADO - SICARIO 2 -was OK though but not the Tom Clancy's adaptation. So, this new film from Stefano Sollima is really worth the catch.

I was warned when I read one of the reviews here. But I cannot understand how I can enjoy every second of this sleeper. First, it didn't explain why there was a murdered person and why the young boy is chased. Second, why so slow paced? There was only one positive point that at least I was ready to go to bed and sleep.

The actors did a good job no doubt. The filming locations were well chosen but the atmosphere was in my opinion too reconstructed. If you want see a real thriller then I highly recommend to see the Italian Netflix series Gomorrah and Suburraeterna.

For all these reasons it deserves not more than 2/10.