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VENICE 2014 Orizzonti

Senza nessuna pietà, a criminal tale

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- VENICE 2014: Newcomer Michele Alhaique directs Piefrancesco Favino in a metropolitan noir that seems like a spinoff of Romanzo criminale (Criminal novel)

Senza nessuna pietà, a criminal tale

Mimmo is a large quiet man who works in construction and from time to time is sent by his uncle, Mr Santili (Ninetto Davoli), to the industrial outskirts of Rome in order to beat up those who haven’t paid their debts. One night his mission changes, he must pick up a prostitute named Tanya (Greta Scarano) and accompany her to his cousin’s home, the arrogant and cruel Manuel Santili (Adriano Giannini). But Tanya is too young, too beautiful and too vulnerable to be left in the hands of his hated cousin. Mimmo turns into the good giant: he beats up Manuel and flees with the girl, helped and covered by the family’s servant, Roscio (Claudio Gioé). He’s a fugitive now, he’s broken the rules of this criminal world and he must protect himself and this girl who has had nothing in life. 

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Pierfrancesco Favino stars in Michele Alhaique’s Senza nessuna pietà [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
in competition in Orizzonti at the Venice Film Festival and in cinemas from 11 September with BIM. The Lebanese from Romanzo criminale [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michele Placido
film profile
]
also co-produced the movie with Lungta and RAI Cinema and plays Mimmo’s character with great conviction. Helped by his good direction technique, this young first time director, who entered the cinema world as an actor, follows his actors using a hand-held camera thus leaving them free to move around. The freshness offered by the young Greta Scarano acts as a counterbalance to the austerity of Favino’s acting, who boasts a filmography which includes names like Spike Lee, Giuseppe Tornatore, Gianni Amelio and Ron Howard. Michele Alhaique doesn’t have the same flashes of genius as some newcomers who managed to shake up Italian cinema last season, and the movie certainly adds little to the career of one of the most appreciated Italian actors abroad, nonetheless this brand of Italian Taxi Driver could reach a young audience thanks to its pace and to the presence of the two main characters. Worth noting is the soundtrack by Luca Novelli and Pierre-Alexandre Yuksek Busson, a mix of orchestra and electronic music.

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(Translated from Italian)

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