Sur ma peau

"Sulla mia pelle" seems to follow the conventional style of post-Gomorra Italian crime/drama films. Even though we all already knew the story, it is a great Netflix Original, albeit not an outstanding one.

"Sulla mia pelle" could be compared to Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, both in themes and structure: both films focus on recent cases of police abuse, and unwrap their plot through a short period (which is one day for Coogler's film, one week for Cremonini's).

While the Cucchi case had enormous mediation relevance in Italy, I wouldn't dare to call it an "incredible true story", albeit an important case of crime perpetuated by the police. Similarly, I wouldn't say that Sulla mia pelle is a masterpiece of a film, but definitely a good film. Due to the subject, I doubt it could have been any better than how it turned out.

Ever since Garrone's "Gomorra", that was released in 2008, Italian crime movies seem to have adopted a particular style, distinct from their American counterparts. Although "Suburra", "A Ciambra", or "Dogman" all share decadent settings, dark environments, crude violence, certain common cinematographic and coloring techniques. Sulla mia pelle seems to follow their style, while being thematically more of an 'inquiry' film. It is also a 'slow' film: there is virtually no action whatsoever.

Even though there wasn't any gorgeous setting (as, for instance, in Suburra), I think the cinematography was great, pushed to the best it could be, despite the locations mostly being prison cells or police offices.

In terms of acting, Borghi attempted to do the required transformation for the role, by visibly losing weight, and also worked heavily on his accent, in order to make it as close to Cucchi's one as possible. The end credits let the viewer hear the original recording of a court hearing for comparison. A great performance, but not as dazzling as his work in Sollima's Suburra. Still, he qualifies once again as a talented emerging actor, who I'd like to see more often in films. Borghi, however, doesn't really resemble Cucchi so much as Jasmine Trinca resembles Ilaria Cucchi, Stefano's sister. We frequently saw the real Ilaria in the news, and the similarity is so impeccable, that it almost made me wish to see more of her in the film, even though the focus was not on her.

"Sulla mia pelle" is a valid film in technical terms. It is overall a good film, and I would put it up there together with "Dogman" and "Loro" as one of the best Italian films of the year so far, but lacks some elements that could have made it an ethernal masterpiece.

Normally I would say this is more of my thing, especially being on Netflix and having that documentary type of feel by being based on a true story, etc. I felt very sorry for Stefano and wanted to learn more about him and what happened after watching this film - we hear about police brutality and things of that nature all of the time, but of course I had never heard of Stefano Cucchi before. I don't really like any of the gory stuff, whether it's gory movies, gory clips, gory pictures, etc. It just never sits right with me. This film was no exception, but it was a different type of film than all the other Italian produced films that I've been watching, and it just goes to show that all people, no matter who, face the same challenges in life and everyone we go there will always be corrupt systems, corrupt people, and victims.

Police officers using shameful techniques to extort confessions, an expeditious and dehumanized justice, a minimalist and indifferent prison medicine, ... Thus, we helplessly witness a slow but inescapable descent into hell. As sad as true.

It's my first review here on IMDb. I saw this movie today and I had really felt the pain lived by the Cucchi's family. The acting is awesome, assuming that Alessandro Borghi is a superb actor (he played Aureliano in Suburra). In Italy, where I live, the death of Stefano Cucchi has been a matter for many years and it's still today. All hail to Netflix, trying to "do justice" to this judicary case.

A must see, to understand better what Italy really is.

Set in suburban Rome, this is the true story of Stefano Cucchi, who was arrested for possession of drugs, then fell victim to police brutality. Sounds familiar, even boring, I've-seen-it-all-before fare? Far from it, this is no white Rodney King story, there is no morale here, no heroes or anti-heroes, just a dysfunctional police & penal system and its victims. And the movie? Simply, this is one of the best films produced by the ailing Italian cinema of the 2000s. A grueling, insanely gritty, claustrophobic, intense thriller, boosted by an array of painfully brilliant performances and the documentaristic, crammed with close-ups, direction - reminiscent of Kassowitz's work in La Haine. This is an absolute tour de force. If you're even remotely interested in great storytelling, do not miss it.