26/09/2005

A group of young boys smash in the windows of a car, to steal it. Thus begins Romanzo criminale [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michele Placido
film profile] (Crime Novel), with a symbolic gesture by a ruthless group of thugs who breaks all the rules, of the state as well as of the “business,” in the latest film by Michele Placido, which he presented today in Rome.
Although critics booed his last film, Ovunque sei (Wherever You Are) last year in Venice, today, the passionate and high-strung actor/director got his revenge with a film that will mostly likely steal the hearts of both audiences and the specialty press. (The film will be released in Italy on 300 screens on September 30th).

Based on the critically acclaimed novel by , who collaborated on the script with screenwriters Stefano Rullo and Sandro Petraglia, Romanzo Criminale combines a highly political story with spectacular crime drama effects. With never a dull moment, the film spans the 1970s and 80s and relates the rise and subsequent fall of a gang of criminals in Rome, loyal friends who strike at the very core of the Italian capital by dealing in heroin, teaming up with the Sicilian Mafia and ruthlessly destroying their enemies. Their stories become intertwined with the political terrorism, state-organized killings and pacts between politicians and gangsters that characterized that particular period of Italian history. “This is what makes the film so unique,” explained the screenwriters . “This is what sets it apart from a typical American-style gangster-movie. It is a story about a group of friends gets manipulated by dark forces whose power they do not understand.”

Giancarlo De Cataldo, a writer although first and foremost a judge in Rome’s Criminal Court, was inspired by the true story of the famous “Magliana Gang” and crafted his novel as a script. “Someone said my book seemed written for the screen, which I take as a compliment. However, during in the adaptation, it changed, as it should have.” The director, who read the script before reading the novel, said: “It moved me. After I read the novel, I asked the screenwriters to add something I really liked in the book. I asked everyone working on the film to give even more of themselves. I wanted them to experience the film as well as tragedies that shook our country, such as the Bologna train station massacre [which caused 85 deaths in1980]. I would like cinema to return to that historical kind of filmmaking, which honored us in the past with the films of Petri, Rosi and Damiani.”

The epic and the dramatic elements of Romanzo criminale are commendably portrayed by an ensemble of young actors in full form (Kim Rossi Stuart, Anna Mouglalis, Pierfrancesco Favino, Claudio Santamaria, Stefano Accorsi, Riccardo Scamarcio, Jasmine Trinca) and furthermore touch upon universal themes. Which is precisely why the producers are confident that the film has a good chance with audiences beyond Italy. As Marco Chimenz of Cattleya told Cineuropa: “We produced this movie in collaboration with Warner Bros, which is distributing the film, with a 20% co-production agreement with British company Crime Novel Films and a 10% agreement with French producer Babe. We benefited from the English tax shelters and part of the post-production was carried out in Great Britain. Warner’s French division was enthusiastic about the film and will release it in France on March 8, 2006, and TF1 is handling international sales. We will next head to the American Film Market in November but, prior to that, the film will be screened in Los Angeles, at the ‘Cinema, Italian Style’ Festival directed by Silvia Bizio and Dennis Bartok (October 6-16)."

(Translated from Italian)