gregorxiv

Nino used to be a car thief and served to years in prison. Now he makes a living by selling coffee and lemonade at a little stall. By chance he gets drawn into a war between two rivaling (mafia) families and finds himself on a death list. He tries to resolve the misunderstanding while keeping his little business and his dignity.

This crime drama by Damiano Damiani is situated in a bleak, rainy, dirty Palermo with little hope for a small time ex-convict like Nino. The police is weak and Nino never even considers asking them for help. The small fight and cheat amongst themselves with the bosses giving orders without being seen.

The film is shot in an unostentatious style and narrated in a similar matter-of-factly kind of way. A very good film yet utterly pessimistic.

This movie is full of action and pseudo-horror. The action itself may be well performed and the horror at least well meant, but the fact that there is nothing else beside it makes the movie such a boring one. Furthermore it is full of silly scenes of senseless violence that have been so idiotically exaggerated that I almost started to laugh (Which seemed to be their purpose; While on the other hand nobody in the cinema even snickered) . But in the end it was pity that I felt for this meaningless piece of a movie. It tried to be exciting, it tried to be shocking but having a plot mostly consisting of holes was meant to fail.