Bandits

Banditi (Italian)

An Intolerance Film production. Produced by Enzo Gallo. Directed by Stefano Mignucci. Screenplay, Mignucci, Gerardo Fontana, Paolo Girelli.

Amos - Ben Gazzara
Ullman - Lino Troisi
Chiara - Mirca Viola
Anna - Lumi Cavazos
David - Marco Leonardi
Karl - Renato Mori
Maner - Roberto Antonelli

Ben Gazzara's grizzled presence doesn't help lift this turgid and unconvincing meller out of the rut of countless minor crime pics. Slowly paced and filled with characters whose motivations are at times incredible, pic seems headed for the small screen pronto.

Gazzara plays a watch repairman and former political radical whose world falls apart after his wife dies post-surgery in a scrungy hospital (this opening sequence is the film's best). Seeking revenge against society, he decides to punish an old friend, Ullman, once a radical like himself, but now a minister in the government. He recruits his young shop assistant, David, and a couple of other aging lefties, and they manage to kidnap Ullman, brutally killing his driver/bodyguard in the process.

They retreat to a deserted palazzo by the sea, while David is sent to keep an eye on Ullman's statuesque daughter, Chiara, who is studying anatomy and spends her time carving up corpses. An unlikely love affair develops, though why this intelligent woman would want to spend any time with the grungy, dimwitted David could be answered only by director Stefano Mignucci and his co-scripters.

In the tried-and-true tradition of this kind of drama, the kidnap victim begins to play his three captors against one another, while the police have their own agenda. Another key character thrown into the unappetizing mix is a lesbian cop.

Gazzara has little to do but look careworn and determined, and the rest of the cast fares no better. Film's crucial liability is a screenplay that makes little sense, though technically this is a solidly made effort.

Camera (color), Luca Santini; editor, Enzo Meniconi; music, Paolo Vivaldi; production design, Angelo Santucci; costumes, Patrizia Mustile. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (Italian Panorama), Sept. 4, 1995. Running time: 89 MIN.

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