04/09/2022 - VENICE 2022: Pippo Mezzapesa’s movie starring pop singer Elodie is a mechanical black and white revenge western set in Apulia

Ti mangio il cuore by Carlo Bonini and Giuliano Foschini is a high-impact book which speaks of the ferociousness of a barely known mob from the Gargano area in the northern headland of Apulia. In a region where 6 million pilgrims visit the Church of San Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo every year, 360 murders have been recorded over the past thirty years, 80% of which remain unsolved. Taking court documents, interviews with the main players and news stories as their basis, the two journalists have reconstructed the story of a crime syndicate which stands out for its ruthlessness and cruelty, and which only obeys laws of blood and of the land. Once humble mountain farmers, the members of these families turned to crime, starting out with robberies before progressing to smuggling and drug dealing, later expanding into the market of rigged contracts and rackets, to the detriment of traders, going so far as to infiltrate the civil service.

Apulia-born Pippo Mezzapesa – a director with an innate talent for telling unconventional stories in his own personal style – signs his name to a loose adaptation of the book by authors Bonini and Foschini, who were also consulted on the screenplay penned by Antonello W. Gaeta, Davide Severino and the director himself. Burning Hearts [+see also:
trailer
interview: Pippo Mezzapesa
film profile] is competing in the Orizzonti section of the 79^th Venice Film Festival.

Unlike the book, the film doesn’t feature police officers, investigators, judges or courageous men who fight the mafia. Burning Hearts is wholly focused on the feud between two criminal families and is inspired by a story within the book, revolving around Rosa Lidia Di Fiore, the first informer from this unassailable mob, who triggered an out and out war by marrying a member of the Tarantino family and then another from the rival Ciavarrella family. The film is eagerly awaited in Italy on account of the role played by pop singer Elodie who is making her film debut as protagonist Marilena Camporeale. And the director’s aesthetic choices are also decidedly “pop”. Burning Hearts is a revenge western shot in unapologetic and sharp black and white tones (with Michele D’Attanasio at the wheel of photography), a choice which lends greater dramatic force to the action, amplifies the violence, draws attention to light and shade, emphasises excruciating details and creates shadows which harden characters’ faces and expressions. In short, it allows for the reconstruction of an archaic form of brutality. The settings themselves are dusty farms scorched by the sun where chickens scratch at the ground, sheep graze and pigs grunt while money is counted and machine guns and revolvers are oiled behind closed doors.

Francesco Patanè is the film’s co-star, playing the part of Andrea Malatesta, a young man in love with Marilena who experiences a dizzying escalation of violence. The pair are flanked by high calibre actors such as Lidia Vitale, who plays Andrea’s mother and the wife of brutal clan boss Michele Malatesta (Tommaso Ragno). The latter stars alongside Francesco Di Leva stepping into the shoes of Giovannangelo. The men of the two opposing armies have nicknames such as Monster, Zig Zag, Tomato, Tripod, while the ambiguous peacemakers from the Montanari clan are played by Michele Placido and his son Brenno. Family is the only thing that counts in this story, and insults are washed away with blood. In short, Burning Hearts is a far cry from the usual comedies shot in Apulia, but the unrelenting aestheticization of savagery can feel monotonous and mechanical in this 115-minute movie.

Burning Hearts is produced by Indigo Film together with RAI Cinema, in collaboration with Paramount+. International distribution is entrusted to True Colours.

(Translated from Italian)