Salvo is an enforcer and hit-man for a local mafioso known simply as 'Boss'. Following an attempt to ambush and murder Boss, Salvo hunts down the perpetrator, a local criminal rival, and kills him. Unfortunately the perpetrator, Renato, has a sight-impaired sister, Rita, who witnesses her brother's death. Rather than kill Rita Salvo takes her hostage and hides her in a disused quarry, which is the burial site for Boss's multiple victims.
What follows is a slow and intense process by which we see Salvo, an inscrutable individual of few words, redeem himself. His redemption is accompanied by Rita regaining her sight, in a way that is not made clear and felt unsatisfactory to me. Nonetheless there was sufficient integrity in the film that I accepted this change, which feeds the theme of redemption.
The film is without incidental music/soundtrack and has lots of long shots with abstract visuals, especially where the intent is to recreate the world as Rita perceives it. This was very well done. The colour palette is mostly blue/grey/black with bursts of white. All these choices create a brooding and reflective mood. They evoke well how Salvo and Rita might feel in their situations and predicaments. There are moments of quiet humour too though these serve to underline the intense concentration of the film rather than disrupt it.
Led by Saleh Bakri the minimal cast were superb. The actress who plays Rita was most effective as a blind/sight-impaired character. The scene where Bakri as Salvo does a reconnoitre of Renato's house while simultaneously avoiding and stalking Rita was superb. Rita's slow realisation that she is not alone in the house and in danger was so well conveyed by the actress, Sara Serraiocco. This was my favourite scene closely followed by the final one, about which I will say no more.
The plot suggests one type of film but in actuality it is an independent art house product. Insular and focused on character development where mood and lighting are more prevalent than words and as significant. It is slow, detailed and demands a type of attention from the viewer not required by most action films.
What follows is a slow and intense process by which we see Salvo, an inscrutable individual of few words, redeem himself. His redemption is accompanied by Rita regaining her sight, in a way that is not made clear and felt unsatisfactory to me. Nonetheless there was sufficient integrity in the film that I accepted this change, which feeds the theme of redemption.
The film is without incidental music/soundtrack and has lots of long shots with abstract visuals, especially where the intent is to recreate the world as Rita perceives it. This was very well done. The colour palette is mostly blue/grey/black with bursts of white. All these choices create a brooding and reflective mood. They evoke well how Salvo and Rita might feel in their situations and predicaments. There are moments of quiet humour too though these serve to underline the intense concentration of the film rather than disrupt it.
Led by Saleh Bakri the minimal cast were superb. The actress who plays Rita was most effective as a blind/sight-impaired character. The scene where Bakri as Salvo does a reconnoitre of Renato's house while simultaneously avoiding and stalking Rita was superb. Rita's slow realisation that she is not alone in the house and in danger was so well conveyed by the actress, Sara Serraiocco. This was my favourite scene closely followed by the final one, about which I will say no more.
The plot suggests one type of film but in actuality it is an independent art house product. Insular and focused on character development where mood and lighting are more prevalent than words and as significant. It is slow, detailed and demands a type of attention from the viewer not required by most action films.