Romanzo criminale

This is a fictional crime story based on the exploits of the infamous "Banda Della Magliana", which terrorized the city of Rome for two entire decades. The movie is OK and it features an all-star cast and a famous director, but if you really want to see the same story brought to a much much higher level (not to mention going way deeper into the details), I strongly recommend you watch Romanzo Criminale The Series (two seasons of 12 episodes each), which is now available on Netflix, from other online sources and on DVD's.

The "condensed" story line of the movie is at times confusing and fails to successfully put the story into its historical context. Really, two hours aren't nearly enough to explain the back story and the historical references, especially to someone who didn't grow up in Italy --and particularly in Rome-- in the 1970's and 80's. So, I watched the movie years ago when it was released, and I was left with so many open questions that were only answered to my complete satisfaction once I watched the series (and yes, there are some continuity issues between the two productions, so don't think of the series as complimentary to the movie but rather as a complete retell.) I know that I'm actually ending up reviewing the series here more than the movie, but really if you watch the series, then you will find that the movie is just a brief summary of the story without much character development, despite the more famous cast and director (incidentally, Mr.Placido is credited as a creative consultant in the series.) The series, on the other hand, is one of the best small-screen productions I've ever seen, really quite up to the level of outstanding crime dramas like the Sopranos or Breaking Bad.

I would rate the movie 6/10 and the series 10/10.

I read the book some years ago, and was really excited that a movie was going to be made out of it. The plot was just perfect and the characters strong enough to work well on screen. Well the movie is quite disappointing, and not because of the script, which in a way does work (except maybe for a foreign audience who will not catch all the political implications of the movie), but for Michele Placido's poor television style of directing and (mainly) for the choice of (most) the actors. These guys should be the worst criminals Rome had ever seen, people you would not have the guts to see in the eyes, but the actors chosen are all the cool and beautiful teenager idols of Italian cinema, surely good actors, but not in the right place this time. This movie could have been a great opportunity to finally export some good Italian cinema...i'm afraid we'll have to wait much more!

Very good, though the story is very dramatized (and I'm Italian, so I know the story of my country).

It takes a real gangster group, link it with neo-fascist and communist actions, real characters and fictional ones, creepy cospirative figures...

It's very far from the criminal stories seen up to now in our country: the cop-movies was a genre abandoned since the '70s (they flourished in the period portrayed in Romanzo Criminale, mostly as a consequence of the feelings of the people against the political and criminal acts of these years).

But it's a very good movie, with solid story and great musics, one of the best in Italian cinematography of the last years (with "Dopo Mezzanotte / After Midnight" and "Le conseguenze dell'amore")

Romanzo Criminale is a strange movie. I'm most of the time quite critical about what I see, but about this particular movie, I can't quite seem to make up my mind. I can find a thousand faults to it : the limited storyline doesn't really develop the historical and political context, the actions is sometimes quite difficult to follow, the characters are totally cliché (the-bad-gangster-guyswho falls in love with the-beautiful-virgin-mary-reincarnation, the repented hooker, the good policeman, the really bad godfathers with all their money, the villa by the sea and the twenty-five year old wife. And yet I enjoyed it. It's not the movie of the year but there's a certain something that makes it different, that saves it from being a total mess and a failure, and turns it into a mysterious movie.

It's not that "Romanzo criminale" is a bad movie. It's only a movie we've seen so many times (from the Godfather to Once Upon a Time in America) done so much better.

Storywise, although it is of Italian origin, "Romanzo" is as bland as any new mafia movie, dealing with revenge, honor and family. The script is rather tedious too, with very few moments of sparkle, and even though the movie looks good, it only starts to feel like a watchable movie in its last quarter. And as if it weren't enough that the film is mediocre, it also bears resemblance to an odyssey if we are to consider its playing time and the way I, as a viewer, interpreted it.

The one interesting aspect is related to the political facet of the mafia, and especially to the situation before the fall of the communist regimes. But this definitely doesn't make up for the weak plot. All there is...is a series of events, linked to one another, sprinkled with love but far too hollow to transcend. Sadly.