Unoriginal gangsters

>> Italian mob epic Romanzo Criminale
doesn’t measure up to the classics

ALL IN LA FAMIGLIA: Romanzo Criminale

by MALCOLM FRASER

The gangster film has been perfected, played out and reinvented so many times that the average viewer could be forgiven for balking at yet another go-round. Then again, since Italy gave us the Mafia itself, it’s only fair that they should be allowed their take on the organized-crime epic. Enter Michele Placido’s Romanzo Criminale, the tale of a group of street thugs who hustle their way to the top of the underworld in 1980s Rome.

The story follows the leaders of the gang, Ice (Kim Rossi Stuart), Lebanese (Pierfrancesco Favino) and Dandy (Claudio Santamaria) through their criminal career, which starts with the kidnapping of a wealthy industrialist and ends up with them controlling the drug trade of Rome and consorting with both the Mafia and shadowy government double agents. Crusading detective Captain Scialoja (Stefano Accorsi) is on their case, but complicates matters when he gets involved with Dandy’s prostitute girlfriend Patrizia (Anna Mouglalis).

The challenge of making a gangster film is not only that it’s been done so many times, but that the masterpieces of the genre are hard acts to follow. The grand themes of The Godfather, the bold style and attention to detail of Goodfellas and the psychological depth of The Sopranos have arguably exhausted the genre of its potential. To his credit, Placido reaches for the heights rather than wallowing in glib Tarantinoisms, the curse of many a recent crime flick, but the film’s sheer ambition forces a comparison to the aforementioned masterworks and it can’t measure up.

The other problem with Romanzo Criminale is that it feels rushed. A long series à la The Wire (or even a miniseries like Italy’s The Best of Youth) might have allowed Placido to flesh out his characters and develop the plotlines. As it is, scenes fly by too quickly, and some of the stories, like the detective-hooker romance, feel forced and unlikely.

The cast is solid all around, with Stuart delivering a particularly strong performance as the tormented Ice. There’s also some interesting local flavour, with the storyline placed in the context of ’70s and ’80s Italian society. In the end, though, when you need a good gangster drama with all the fixings, there’s no messing with the classics.

Romanzo Criminale opens this Friday, March 30

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