Salvatore Giuliano

A perfect analysis of the most famous gangster, loved from the poor people, of Sicily. Is very good the acting of Frank Wolff as the cousin of Giuliano, Salvatore Pisciotta. On this Film there is the same history of the gangster of the Film "Il Siciliano" with C. Lambert, but here the film is history, there the film is a bad novel.

The first time you experience this film is rather like going to an opera without knowing the plot: there are some grand scenes of murder and passion, some incredible scenery, but it's long and you're in a suspended state of confusion much of the time--and it's a two-hour film, almost a documentary.

The second time you watch this film (and you should!) it can be enjoyed on so many levels, and you begin to appreciate Rosi's genius for mixing various kinds of truth, for exposing the sorts of lies governmental bodies can develop to protect their flanks, for demythologizing the idea of the folk outlaw whose ideals are supposedly those of the people. At heart this is a film about Sicily, about an island's struggle to find it's heart and it's heritage--not easy to watch, but magnificently photographed at every turn.

Francesco Rosi's cinema are around political matters, a tough subject too swallow for usual cinephiles, due the hard life which we lives are enough to stand, but some facts needs a better understanding as this picture suggests, how Sicily gets his independence from Italy is plentiful explained here, each facts were expose in this overlong picture, but Francesco wisely put forward a cursed triangle of forces, the mob, the separatists and the dangerous outlaws who help them in hope to get their crime's amnesty, after they got Sicily's autonomy starts another hard issue, the communist, such thing was totally inconceivable to Italian standards at it's time, a mass killing was prompt provides by the rich farmers and also by the mob, the Giuliano the leader almost didn't appears on the movie, his second on command and your fellows conrades in-arms were charged by the massacre, interesting picture over this dry land on Italy's south, the mountainous island Sicily !!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

"Salvatore.." is more a documentary than a film, in which the story of the legendary sicilian gangster is told. Oddly enough, we never get to see his face, and no insight is given of his character or about how and why did he turn into such an icon for the sicilian people. We only know about him through the other characters in the film. Even though there is some fine acting going on, the direction of Mr.Rosi is downright awful. We are presented with a series of events with no connecting thread whatsoever, other than a logical chronological development. While dealing with an interesting historical moment of Sicily, the film is terribly boring and you need a truckload of patience to stay tuned through the end. If you are keen on studying Sicily's historical heritage, you may find this film interesting, if not, then you should miss it!.

Filmed in the actual Siciilian locations, this film is a fair attempt to strip away the myth surrounding bandit-cum-revolutionary Giuliano. In fact, he doesn't appear except as a gunned-down corpse at the beginning. The film winds back to unravel the events leading to his death, and forwards to its consequence. This is a clever method of achieving objectivity while at the same time subtly emphasising the man's elusive and mysterious qualities. To show Giuliano would have either been either hagiography or iconoclasm. The film rose above that and broadened its inquiry into the wider social and political context, effectively belittling him as the puppet of various forces jostling for position in Sicily after the war: bandits, police, local aristocracy, the Italian government, communists, and the Mafia.

This sets quite a challenge for itself, partly because of the vacuum at its centre, partly because of the obscurity and complexity of the real events. We are delivered to a chaotic courtroom to try to piece it together. The film finally latches onto Giuliano's lieutenant –the only one who seems to know something of what is going on - but even he is silenced. It's all the more disturbing for the confusion.

Rosi is one of the best directors of crowds scenes and he gives raucous energy to any gathering of men, especially in the courtroom. He induces a kind of group hysteria in his actors; they are totally unaware of the camera and the result is an almost disturbing hyper-real feel (real crowds are dull in comparison) – it's really something to appreciate. To get into this film, you need to invest something in the passions of the various parties involved - if not sympathise with them, then at least understand them. Without this, the danger is that it all boils down to so much petty bickering. The same might be said of the Godfather, which clearly owes a huge debt to Rosi's style.

Influential then, somewhat brave, with some fine directorial moments, and an interesting history lesson. Hard to actually like, but hard not to admire.