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Rating:
The cinematic debut of the D'Innocenzo brothers, twin brothers from Rome in their 30s, is truly astonishing.
They seem to have come out of nowhere, never having done anything before, not even a short film, but they had written stories, screenplays.
One of these stories became a film: “La terra dell’abbastanza.”
It’s the story of two boys from the outskirts of Rome, two friends, two mischievous and ungrammatical lads.
The prologue is phenomenal. It’s night, they are eating a sandwich in the car after work. After finishing eating, Mirko (the handsome blond one) starts the car. Next to him is Manolo, tall, thin, dark-haired, with a cheeky face.
They chat, laugh, joke, talk about the future…
SBAM!
They hit a man who dies on the spot… They flee.
They’ve killed a mobster… the troubles begin.
Considering that this is the first work of two young filmmakers, we are witnessing a small cinematic miracle.
The film fits into what in recent years seems to have become a true “cinematic genre,” namely the theme of Roman crime: “Romanzo criminale” “Non essere cattivo” “Suburra” “Il più grande sogno” “Lo chiamavano Jeeg robot” “Dogman”...
Yet it has its own style, its own charm. The opening credits already stand out, classic, in white and central on a black background while a typically “noir” gloomy sax (a 70s German band discovered on YouTube by the directors) accompanies them.
Another peculiarity is the technique used for focusing: often the camera is on the characters while everything around is extremely blurry, myopic. This gives a disorienting, almost hallucinatory atmosphere, aided by the splendid nocturnal yet warm cinematography.
The two young actors are amazing. Manolo (Andrea Carpenzano) has already been noticed in the splendid “Tutto quello che vuoi” (I haven't reviewed it but watch it because it's worth it).
Mirko (Matteo Olivetti) is a newcomer, chosen in the audition. He is beautiful and extraordinarily resembles Emanuele, a friend of mine from Tormarancio who was the coolest and most damned of all and who when he died didn’t even have the years of Christ…this somehow disturbed me during the viewing but it has nothing to do with the review, but what a flash holy shit…
Then there’s Max Tortora, Manolo’s father, a top-notch loser.
Then there’s Luca Zingaretti playing the villain and damn, he’s good, how credible he is… without making crazy faces, without yelling, without breaking skulls with baseball bats. Excellent Luca (but anyway Montalbano annoys me, and I never watch it).
Mirko’s mother? I don’t know who she is but she’s wonderful too.
The film is damn realistic, more realistic and “true” than some of the many more illustrious titles mentioned above.
The dialogues are incredible, they seem improvised but they’re not. The film was written and conceived precisely this way, unbelievable. At most, I might say there are too many swear words but that’s nitpicking…
A part of Italy out of focus, just like the film.
The discomfort, the ignorance, the lack of a solid family nucleus, the isolated outskirts, in this case, Ponte di Nona, a world apart, disconnected, marginalized, abandoned.
Finding oneself in deep shit and doing things of unprecedented gravity with ease as if it were normal. Believing you’ve turned things around but something intangible buzzes in your head and whispers that no, it’s not like that.
Not enough, damn it.
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