Les âmes noires

This is another gangster film where there isn't all the action of the traditional entry in the genre. If Goodfellas is Saving Private Ryan, then Black Souls is more in the vein of The Thin Red Line, not the same caliber as that film but you get my drift.

This is much more of a character study of the players involved. The eldest of a trio of brothers has spent decades tending to his farm and staying out of the family business, which is for the most part unnamed shady stuff. But when his son goes to visit his goon of a brother with intentions of joining the dark side, a sequence of events fall in place resulting in a finish that I don't think anyone can see coming.

Not a lot happens in the first 2/3s of Black Souls in an action sense, and if I was in the wrong mood I might not have liked this as much as I did. But I thought the conflict between the four chief characters (the dad, his two gangster brothers, and his son) was established very convincingly. Come with patience to this one and you will be well rewarded. One of the scenes near the finish is simply magnificent.

Last Saturday I went to see "Anime nere" at the London Film Festival with great expectation. In fact in August I had read a very positive review on La Repubblica newspaper. I must say it met completely my expectations, the movie is very well done, convincing and the light, the light is absolutely sublime. I like all the actors performances. The director told us, after the projection, that they were a mix of professional and not professional ones (very difficult to distinguish for the high quality of their performances). The plot is very intense, but not in a bad way. The most disturbing scenes are not shown on screen, but left to the audience imagination. The movie is set in a rural village in Calabria, south of Italy, where the three brothers were born and where Luciano, the elder, is still living with his family. The two younger brothers, instead, had moved to Milan in the north of Italy few years back.

Highly recommended, a potential candidate to next year foreign Grammy awards!!

Greetings again from the darkness. Avoiding the flashiness of GOODFELLAS or the complexity of another Italian crime family drama, 2008's GOMORRAH, this reserved-on-the-surface film from director/co-writer Francesco Munzi takes us to a small rural village located outside of Milan. In fact, this slow-burner has much in common stylistically with the 2010 Aussie gem ANIMAL KINGDOM.

Luigi (Marco Leonardi), Rocco (Peppino Mazzotta), and Luciano (Fabrizio Ferracane) are three brothers who have settled into life after the murder of their father by a rival crime family. Luigi is the hands-on leader of the family's drug business, and even though he thrives on the power and intimidation, he maintains a relatively low profile. Rocco is the behind-the-scenes businessman of the family enterprise. He and his fashion-forward wife live in a swanky Milan apartment and mostly avoid the front lines. Oldest brother Luciano has forsaken the family biz, and instead spends his days farming and working his goats.

Luciano's commitment to hard work and a straight life have not rubbed off on his son Leo (Giuseppe Fumo) who is drawn to the danger, money and power of his uncles' business. It's young Leo's fool-hearted actions that kickoff a chain of events putting the family smack in the midst of a possible war of mafia families.

This is no guns-blazing thrill ride of violence. Instead it's the type of movie that features countless scenes of men huddled in small groups mumbling details of the next important deal. Also, crucial are the non-verbal nods and raised eye-brows – signs that are interpreted as calls to action. We also learn that expressing hope someone lives to 100, is not just a personal insult, but such crass behavior that it brings a group dinner to an awkward halt.

Leather jacket abound, and the threat of violence looms over most scenes. However, it's the subtlety of the conversations and the quiet nature of the leaders that cause the well-meaning, but immature thirst for revenge from Leo to stand out. Until the twist of the final act, the only two moments of violence are almost surgical in their precision, leaving us with the impression that one's negotiating skills and loyal friends are every bit as crucial to success as one's expertise with a gun.

Mr. Munzi's film is very well directed and photographed, and features some terrific acting that generates the tension necessary to drive the story. It's a nice addition to the crime family genre, even if it's not at the level of the three mentioned in the opening paragraph above.

Every few years an authentic Italian mafia film comes along, the last one being 2008's Gomorrah. Now we have Anime Nere; A slick, well made, taut and perfectly paced film about an unsung rise to power. It takes place deep within the crime underworld in a village outside of Milan. Grounded in realism and contains no superfluous love stories or unneeded fluff. Classic Mafia film moments and themes are handled deftly and with fresh eyes. The enormity of the film emerges only its its last few frames. People that idolize Scarface or The Godfather will have a new classic on their hands. Thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking cinema.

Italy seems to be one step ahead in the production of quality crime films. After the majestic ''Suburra'', this film travels the viewer to the Italian south where we are introduced to three brothers Luciano, Rocco and Luigi who spend their lives inside the omnipotent organized crime complex which is known as ndrangheta (the word is derived for the greek synonym of bravery). Luciano is retired from this lifestyle and is now devoted to his family, a young son (Leo) who seems eager to follow the steps of his criminal uncles. There is nothing flashy or glamorizing about the film's depiction of the mafia lifestyle, ''Anime Nere'' is a rather reserved character-based movie placing the emphasis on the problematic family dynamics and the emotional ordeals of the main characters. This is supported by the stellar performances of all the main actors, in my opinion, Marco Leonardi stands out as the mercurial and tough Luigi, and the direction is exquisite using the beautiful landscape as a marker of the protagonists' feelings. If you are looking for another ''Goodfellas'' rip-off, better stay away from this Italian gem. This is a movie about the genuine lovers of the medium.