2008 Woodie Awards
Movie Review: 'Romanzo Criminale'
The kids aren't all right in 'Crime Novel'
By: Erin Duley
Issue date: 4/12/07 Section: Reviews
- Page 1 of 1
4 out of 5 stars
Kids from suburbia have never been as terrifying as they are in "Romanzo Criminale (Crime Novel)." The movie begins when some adolescent boys steal a car, but by the end of the movie the body count is unfathomable due to the same troublemakers. With an eye for drama and suspense, director Michele Placido tells the boys' story enthrallingly from innocent beginning to tragic end.
The trio of Ice (Kim Rossi Stuart), Dandy (Claudio Santamaria) and Lebanese (Pierfrancesco Favino) form the core of a group of ragtag bandits that sets out to take over Rome's underworld. Beginning in the 1970s, the film follows these three and an assortment of their friends into the 1990s. At the start of their rise, the men use the hefty ransom they receive from kidnapping a local rich man and progressively buy their way into the prostitution, gambling and drug rings already operating in Rome. Once the group is established, betrayal and trepidation ultimately seep into the organization, turning the members against one another.
Placido has obviously studied the films of Quentin Tarantino evidenced by his similar flashy editing style and fondness for intertitles and 1970s American pop music. However, "Romanzo Criminale" avoids being a Tarantino knock-off because Placido doesn't let his frequent violence become the showcase of the film. In fact, the fictional gang portrayed in "Romanzo Criminale" is meant to personify the real terrorist organizations that often operated in conjunction with the corrupt Italian government in the period depicted. The film references the real kidnapping and murder of Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the militant Communist group known as the Red Brigades. The bombing of the Central Station of Bologna that killed 85 people and wounded 200 more also is depicted. Although the Italian authorities have never convicted anyone for the massacre, the film indicates that it was a government plot executed by the fictional gang.
The touch of reality in "Romanzo Criminale" makes it more engaging than the average crime movie because it emphasizes that a world of such high stakes really could and did exist. Through frequent flashbacks to the beginning of the film when the hardened criminals were still bored little boys, the characters are given a human side. In the end, the audience is left to wonder what could have happened had their boredom not led to greed and destruction.
This movie was part of the 2007 Italian Film Festival of St. Louis. For more information, visit http://www.italianfilmfestivalstlouis.com.
Kids from suburbia have never been as terrifying as they are in "Romanzo Criminale (Crime Novel)." The movie begins when some adolescent boys steal a car, but by the end of the movie the body count is unfathomable due to the same troublemakers. With an eye for drama and suspense, director Michele Placido tells the boys' story enthrallingly from innocent beginning to tragic end.
The trio of Ice (Kim Rossi Stuart), Dandy (Claudio Santamaria) and Lebanese (Pierfrancesco Favino) form the core of a group of ragtag bandits that sets out to take over Rome's underworld. Beginning in the 1970s, the film follows these three and an assortment of their friends into the 1990s. At the start of their rise, the men use the hefty ransom they receive from kidnapping a local rich man and progressively buy their way into the prostitution, gambling and drug rings already operating in Rome. Once the group is established, betrayal and trepidation ultimately seep into the organization, turning the members against one another.
Placido has obviously studied the films of Quentin Tarantino evidenced by his similar flashy editing style and fondness for intertitles and 1970s American pop music. However, "Romanzo Criminale" avoids being a Tarantino knock-off because Placido doesn't let his frequent violence become the showcase of the film. In fact, the fictional gang portrayed in "Romanzo Criminale" is meant to personify the real terrorist organizations that often operated in conjunction with the corrupt Italian government in the period depicted. The film references the real kidnapping and murder of Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the militant Communist group known as the Red Brigades. The bombing of the Central Station of Bologna that killed 85 people and wounded 200 more also is depicted. Although the Italian authorities have never convicted anyone for the massacre, the film indicates that it was a government plot executed by the fictional gang.
The touch of reality in "Romanzo Criminale" makes it more engaging than the average crime movie because it emphasizes that a world of such high stakes really could and did exist. Through frequent flashbacks to the beginning of the film when the hardened criminals were still bored little boys, the characters are given a human side. In the end, the audience is left to wonder what could have happened had their boredom not led to greed and destruction.
This movie was part of the 2007 Italian Film Festival of St. Louis. For more information, visit http://www.italianfilmfestivalstlouis.com.
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