Directed by Dino and Filippo Gentili
Cast: Massimo de Santis, Guido Caprino, Giorgio Colangeli, Emanuela Gallussi
Italy 2008 87mins
This is the first feature for these two Italian scriptwriter brothers is best described as a noir thriller. The action takes place in a single night in a seventies villa near Rome.
The story is centred on Rocco (Massimo de Santis) a decent bloke and a jobbing builder who is desperately short of money. When his business partner offers him a strange gig at a plush-looking villa he really can’t refuse although it’s nothing to do with building work. For a large sum of money they are to guard the body of a young woman for one night. She is the daughter of a rich businessman. Nice work when you can get it, but is it? As Rocco waits patiently, the painful secrets of this girl’s life gradually emerge during a series of visits by friends and family.
This is a novel idea for a film and the storyline is well thought out and suspenseful with skilful use of lighting and camera-work to great effect. The problem lies in the characterisation of the main actors. Little is done to flesh out their parts and they appear as stereotype roles that rather than real people with real personalities. As a result, we feel nothing for them or for their story particularly as they are all so unappealing characters in the first place.
Meredith Taylor ©