Sidney Lumet
Onora Il Padre E La Madre

Watching this film is like being punched in the stomach, one of those punches so strong it knocks the wind out of you for an entire minute, so allow me to strongly recommend against this film for those looking for two hours of distraction. But for those who wish to enjoy great cinema even at the cost of a bit of suffering, take a seat!

"Onora il padre e la madre" (a suggestive but misleading title compared to the original "Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead") is a very dark film, blacker than "25th Hour," more heart-wrenching than "Mystic River," more vicious than "In the Cut." A total disillusionment that probably only a seasoned director like Lumet, at the venerable age of eighty-three, can afford to have.

The screenplay, written by (cinema debutant) playwright Kelly Masterson, has an archetypal simplicity: Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke), two very different brothers who (each in their own way) are in deep trouble, decide to plan a robbery of their parents' jewelry store. On paper, it’s the perfect plan: the loot goes to them, and the insurance money to the parents; but, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details, the situation gets out of hand, and during the robbery their mother, who wasn’t supposed to be there that morning, ends up dead.

On the basis of this plot, Masterson and Lumet build a perfect narrative structure with a series of interlocking flashbacks worthy of the most noble examples (from "The Killing" to "Reservoir Dogs"), with fantastic digital cinematography (even just the long sequence shot where Hoffman does drugs at the home of his "friend" with the bleak light streaming through the skyscraper’s windows would be enough to award Ron Dreville an honorary Oscar). Not to mention finally the extraordinary performances provided by the cast, where a monumental Philip Seymour Hoffman is overtaken at the finish line by the terrifying performance of the great elder Albert Finney in the final scene (and, incidentally, it’s surprising the Academy didn’t at least notice these two performances).

But the truly astonishing thing is how this film manages to be at the same time a perfect genre film, a family tragedy on par with Ferrara’s "The Funeral," and a perfectly cohesive piece in Lumet’s filmography (a director who for a long time was not considered an "auteur") with references to some of his masterpieces like "Dog Day Afternoon" and "The Pawnbroker." Alongside "Eastern Promises," another violent and beautiful film, definitely the best movie I’ve seen this year.