Franco Bagongo

An elegant, Melville-esquire exercise in non-mainstream noir film-making. It could be argued it's a bit thin on plot but - come on! - is really plot what movies are all about? This one is definitely strong on visual mood. Shot on video, in black and white, somewhere in Northern Italy. The title was inspired by an in-joke shared by some of the posters on the movie newsgroup it.arti.cinema, but that has nothing to do with the story. Any early Kitano fan should enjoy this, although the film does have a distinctly personal flavor that puts it in a league of its own. Hard to find, I was lucky enough to get my hands on a VHS screener - that I am jealously holding on to. This was shot at no cost - I mean Robert Rodriguez is a spender compared to these guys. Hope it gets some kind of exposure, some day: it would deserve it.