cengelm

Toni arrives in Paris coming by train from Calabria. He enters an Italian restaurant and kills the owner who is member of the Minelli family. For no obvious reason he stays in Paris and meets an old man who is living in kind of an asylum because he murdered another Italian family many years ago. Only the mother of that family survived. The old man tells him that the Minelli family will seek revenge and try to kill him. Toni now meets the Minellis again and talks with them. He gets nervous and kills 3 more family members. He continues to talk with the old man who tells him that the killing was necessary and that Toni's family always considered Toni a bastard because he was an illegitimate child. Because of that they sent him to Paris to get rid of him. The only way to achieve reconciliation would be to kill a certain Buffo. After that his family would forgive him. Overall the story is entertaining to follow but it's the kind of story where you are not allowed to ask too many questions - like e.g. why doesn't Toni himself know anything about the bastard story. I haven't seen any real plot holes, though. I found the acting to be OK and the overall impression of the movie was mediocre. Besides the talky relationship between Toni and the old man there is some action and a little romantic subplot where a French girl falls in love with the Calabrian guy and surprisingly they talk without any language problems. The French authorities never interfere so that the murder plot can continue.

Recommended if you have some time to kill and like any of the actors.

Italian patriot Colonel Angelo Pardi is fleeing his country in 1832. He enters the cholera ridden French Provence. There he meets Pauline who is lovelessly married to rich Marquis de Théus. Together they will look for him. The road movie starts pretty slow and chaotic. More often than once I was confused about what was going on. A lot of swashbuckling, dead people, crows and crows again, some chases. There seemed to be no real plot or focus. Then after about one hour suddenly it got better and delivered what I was expecting. The romance between Juliette Binoche and Olivier Martinez gained momentum and the story got some direction. The ending was a bit melodramatic and lacked credibility but I won't ask for too much.

Both lead actors did a good job. Cinematography was good and benefited from the setup in France's beautiful landscape. There was an improvement to be seen after a rather bad start.

6 / 10

Unlike many other comment writers I'm only writing about the film and not the series. This entry of the IMDb refers to the pilot(?) film only.

The movie deals with the fortune of the Macahan family who underwent a life of strange and irrational decisions. Timothy(?) Macahan is tired of the life in Virginia and also fears the upcoming civil war and thus decides to go west. With a single covered wagon and his brother Zeb as a scout he soon arrives in Nebraska. Despite the availability of a telegraph line he starts to worry about his parents who have stayed back in Virginia and decides to ride back more than 2000 miles through territory of war. After nothing is heard about him one of his sons follows him to Virginia and is thereby recruited by the Unionists. In the middle of the Shiloh battle he meets his father who is just about to die in the same minute. Isn't the USA bigger than than the town where I'm living?!

There is a teaching narrative which gives the impression that the event-driven soap opera is meant as kind of a lesson. The actors could have been better and more natural, some more extras could have filled the scenes. The way the story is told lacks the necessary grit which is a typical flaw of TV-Westerns. Camera work and score are mediocre.

4 / 10.