Salvo

Whenever I read the words "arthouse action", I immediately think of Drive, I can't help it. It's an instinct. So yeah, sort of expect that same sort of atmosphere, and while the mood and pacing here is like that in a way, it's just not all that interesting. Inherently it is, the cinematography is quite good, as is the editing. The lead actor seems a bit empty, and not in the way that it worked in Drive. There could've perhaps been more there, seeing as how that's the way I really saw it not working. Still, there were some moments of inspired brilliance, the film wasn't always uninteresting, and it was nicely composed. by the end of it, I actually kind of liked it for some reason, and it's why I'm giving it more positive than negative despite my review not sounding like that at all

It's certainly original. Name me another Mafioso hit-man movie that has at its centre a blind heroine whose traumatic experience at the hands of a killer seems to reverse the effects of her blindness. If we are in the territory of miraculous cures Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza's movie never stresses the fact but proceeds to take us down roads we may not be used to. A mostly silent Saleh Bakri is Salvo who, on a job to kill the man who has set him up, encounters the victim's blind sister, Rita, and rather than kill her takes her along for the ride. However, it would appear the shock has restored Rita's sight, at least partially, which seems as devastating to her as being kidnapped by a hit-man. Sara Serraiocco is excellent as Rita and Bakri is highly effective in the title role, particularly in view of the fact that he hardly ever opens his mouth.

Even leaving aside the blind girl scenario, "Salvo" is unusual in other ways. Salvo is fundamentally an existentialist character who hides away from the world and is waited on hand and foot. His encounter with Rita opens his eyes as much as it does hers, awakening in him a tenderness he may not have realized was there. It's also a film that takes its time. Salvo and Rita are often the only characters we see and the conventional thrills of the Mafioso movie are conspicuously absent. Nor is it a conventional love story; the relationship that develops between captor and captive doesn't go along conventional lines and, like much else in the picture, is mostly conducted in silence and in darkness. Like I said, it's certainly original.

I saw this film at the Ghent (Belgium) film festival 2013, where it was selected for the Global Cinema section. The synopsis on the festival website left a lot to outguess, and confined itself to throwing names and mentioning the praises it received in Cannes and from professional reviewers. So I went in blank, not knowing what to expect.

The opening action scene sets out the daily life of our main character, Salvo, who is a professional hit man and seemingly does nothing else. We see him continuously alert and prepared for anything. When ambushed he chases one of the attackers against fraternally advice to let it go, with the express purpose to learn who is behind the attack. He finds out and immediately heads to his house.

That is where he meets Rita, our second main character, who is the blind sister of the man behind the ambush. In sharp contract with the previous action scenes, this in-house scene drags on much too long. We see Salvo and Rita both moving around in the same house. Rita plays music all day long, and hence does not hear him wandering around. Salvo on the other hand, silently waits for his target at first, and after killing him continues with exploring the house out of professional habit on the lookout for adversaries. Given many stairs and rooms, it takes some time before they notice each others presence. Salvo needs some time to grasp the notion that Rita is blind and poses no immediate danger. At the same time we witness through her eyes some light flashes when he touches her on the head, while reading between the lines giving us a hint that her blindness is about to be cured.

His underlying reasons not to kill her but to take her along, puzzle me and we are left unclear about it even after the closing titles. There were no sexual intentions that we are aware of. And having a woman to take care of, seems a stumbling block in his line of work. Salvo leaves Rita behind in a deserted building for several days without his real purpose becoming much clearer. She explores her confined quarters, at first by groping around as she was used to do when totally blind. At a later stage, we see that she made attempts to cover the windows with material lying around, while it (we assume) hurts her eyes that need time to adjust.

Back at home, Salvo seems restless and very unlike the focused man he usually is. The man and woman (a couple?) waiting on him, apparently his servants, are as confused as we are. Salvo arranges for food, drives to the place he imprisoned her, and wants Rita to eat it together, but she refuses at his first attempt. We clearly see that her earlier ways of moving around, gets more and more like someone really able to see, in no danger of stumbling over furniture and other objects around. Still unexplained is the sudden cure of her blindness, seemingly starting when Salvo touched her the first time.

In one of the final scenes his mafia boss arrives and demands that he kills Rita and returns for work. Salvo and Rita escape together, after a shootout, while she supports him because of a seriously looking shot wound. It cannot be construed as a spoiler that no happy end can come out of this situation.

All in all, it is neither the drama nor the love story that I anticipated when reading the synopsis on the festival website. All professional reviewers who saw this film in Cannes, applauded it without exception or reservations, but I don't get it. When leaving the theater I scored a 3 out of 5 (average) for the audience award. There is not much dialogue to admire, but apart from that it is perfectly acted. I have some doubts about Rita's facial expressions in the house where they originally met, which I felt as being exaggerated and overdoing it to make an impression on the audience. But I assume this to be natural for someone blind (I also assume it being based on expert advice), which behavior disappeared when her eyes started working. Finally, the narrative and particularly the direction in which the story is heading, is left unclear for us from beginning to end. I think this plot could have been used more effectively, given the ingredients available, but it is easy for me to say.

Now here is a slow moving movie with heart offering a distinctly creative turn in the noire genre. It's also a risk taker in that it may be a tough sell to believe a ruthless tough guy could develop a "soft side" and likewise that a victim could turn to love same said ruthless tough guy. It's a movie that requires a bit of thought to connect the dots and see whether you are convinced that the filmmaker succeeded in this ambitious and complex endeavor. While I admit I'm have some doubts about that, especially the victim turned lover side, it was an enjoyable watch in large part because one is led along by suspense that never culminates in the traditional way. Very much worth a watch unless you are expecting "traditional" mafia movie treatment.

The influence is obviousfor this film, very well made but also suffering from some unnecessary lengths. The main actor is maybe not Alain Delon but quite good enough to hold the comparison. Lonely hired killer who happens to face existential questions, a topic already seen many times before, even in Asian crime films, but rarely in European ones. Italy is a country, great provider of mafia topics, - I wonder why ; ha ha ha - so it is normal that Italy made this one, unlike Spain, Germany or Norway. In the USA, of course there were tons of them all over the years, especially TV products, or direct to DVDs stuff. No, this one is a good film, not that surprising though, with expected results at the end, but a good Italian crime feature.