THE MAFIA KILLS ONLY IN SUMMER
****
Director: Pierfrancesco Diliberto
Screenwriters: Pierfrancesco Diliberto, Michele Astori and Marco Martani
Principal cast:
Pif
Alex Bisconti
Ginerva Antona
Rosario Lisma
Totò Borgese
Cristiana Capotondi
Country: Italy
Classification: M
Runtime: 90 mins.
Australian release date: 11 June 2015
Lovers of all things Italian will be engrossed by this directorial debut by TV host, Pierfrancesco Diliberto, The Mafia Kills Only in Summer. The film covers a frightening period of Sicily’s history, but it’s presented as a funny, poignant, yet disturbing semi-autobiographical tale.
Pulling that off is quite a tall order, but Diliberto successfully entertains and informs his audience, while covering the turbulent years between the 1970s and the early 1990s. Set in Diliberto’s hometown, Palermo, the film introduces us to Arturo (Alex Bisconti), a young and rather precocious boy, just before he first lays eyes on, and falls in love with, new classmate Flora (Ginevra Antona). Smitten, he will spend much of the next 20 years trying to win her affection, while in the background the Mafia rages against the forces of law and order.
During the ‘70s the Mafia held sway over the Italian bureaucracy; it was a well-known fact that because the officialdom of the period was a shambles, the ‘cosa nostra’ (‘our thing’) was often the only way to get things done. Why wait for months for a ‘phone line or a power connection when an envelope containing a bank note, passed on to the right connection, worked a lot faster? But there was complacency among the Sicilians, who believed it was a problem for the mainland to deal with and tended to brush the increasing violence and corruption aside. Indeed, Arturo is confidently told by his father (Rosario Lisma), not to worry, as “the Mafia kills only in summer!” Strangely, Arturo becomes obsessed by the then Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, believing he was in control of the problem, and Diliberto creates a very funny scene where the young Arturo goes to a school fancy dress party dressed as the PM, complete with bat ears and his much-parodied shuffle. What the naïve boy didn’t know, however, was that Andreotti also maintained that the Mafia did not exist in Sicily. Despite such protestations, many people believed (and still do) that he was in their grip, along with other politicians of the period like Salvo Lima (Totò Borgese).
As the years roll on, the adult Arturo (now played by the director) becomes a journalist who crosses paths with politicians, judges and bankers, some of whom are caught up in the web of corruption and some who are active in the fight against it. When he gets a job on a satirical television program, he re-meets Flora (Cristiana Capotondi), who has returned from Switzerland where her father, a banker, had taken her years earlier, deeming it a safer environment. Flora has now returned as, of all things, Salvo Lima’s PA! Lima was an ex-Mayor of Palermo who was aligned with Andreotti’s party and was the Mafia’s point of contact with the government. He was murdered in 1992, in retaliation for his and Andreotti’s failure to block the so-called ‘Maxi Trial’ of many high-level Mafiosi. Original footage from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, covering news of the assassinations and interviews with various officials, is skilfully interspersed with the on-going story of Arturo’s pursuit of Flora’s affections.
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer was the Best Screenplay winner at the Italian Golden Globes in 2014 and the most popular film at the 2014 Italian Film Festival, in Australia. It is very watchable because of the subject matter and fine performances, backed up by Marcello di Carlo’s production design, which authentically captures the period. Diliberto’s three-handed involvement as director, writer and actor, gives the film a personal touch that adds to its authenticity. It’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy and a brave stance to take in a country where the ‘cosa nostra’ is still a force to be reckoned with. It comes with some cred, for the President of the Italian Senate and former anti-mafia magistrate, Pietro Grasso, publicly announced that the film was the best work on the Sicilian Mafia ever made. It also explains why it was a huge hit at the Italian box office as finally people are able to speak out against an organisation that had them living in fear for years.
Screenwriters: Pierfrancesco Diliberto, Michele Astori and Marco Martani
Principal cast:
Pif
Alex Bisconti
Ginerva Antona
Rosario Lisma
Totò Borgese
Cristiana Capotondi
Country: Italy
Classification: M
Runtime: 90 mins.
Australian release date: 11 June 2015
Lovers of all things Italian will be engrossed by this directorial debut by TV host, Pierfrancesco Diliberto, The Mafia Kills Only in Summer. The film covers a frightening period of Sicily’s history, but it’s presented as a funny, poignant, yet disturbing semi-autobiographical tale.
Pulling that off is quite a tall order, but Diliberto successfully entertains and informs his audience, while covering the turbulent years between the 1970s and the early 1990s. Set in Diliberto’s hometown, Palermo, the film introduces us to Arturo (Alex Bisconti), a young and rather precocious boy, just before he first lays eyes on, and falls in love with, new classmate Flora (Ginevra Antona). Smitten, he will spend much of the next 20 years trying to win her affection, while in the background the Mafia rages against the forces of law and order.
During the ‘70s the Mafia held sway over the Italian bureaucracy; it was a well-known fact that because the officialdom of the period was a shambles, the ‘cosa nostra’ (‘our thing’) was often the only way to get things done. Why wait for months for a ‘phone line or a power connection when an envelope containing a bank note, passed on to the right connection, worked a lot faster? But there was complacency among the Sicilians, who believed it was a problem for the mainland to deal with and tended to brush the increasing violence and corruption aside. Indeed, Arturo is confidently told by his father (Rosario Lisma), not to worry, as “the Mafia kills only in summer!” Strangely, Arturo becomes obsessed by the then Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, believing he was in control of the problem, and Diliberto creates a very funny scene where the young Arturo goes to a school fancy dress party dressed as the PM, complete with bat ears and his much-parodied shuffle. What the naïve boy didn’t know, however, was that Andreotti also maintained that the Mafia did not exist in Sicily. Despite such protestations, many people believed (and still do) that he was in their grip, along with other politicians of the period like Salvo Lima (Totò Borgese).
As the years roll on, the adult Arturo (now played by the director) becomes a journalist who crosses paths with politicians, judges and bankers, some of whom are caught up in the web of corruption and some who are active in the fight against it. When he gets a job on a satirical television program, he re-meets Flora (Cristiana Capotondi), who has returned from Switzerland where her father, a banker, had taken her years earlier, deeming it a safer environment. Flora has now returned as, of all things, Salvo Lima’s PA! Lima was an ex-Mayor of Palermo who was aligned with Andreotti’s party and was the Mafia’s point of contact with the government. He was murdered in 1992, in retaliation for his and Andreotti’s failure to block the so-called ‘Maxi Trial’ of many high-level Mafiosi. Original footage from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, covering news of the assassinations and interviews with various officials, is skilfully interspersed with the on-going story of Arturo’s pursuit of Flora’s affections.
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer was the Best Screenplay winner at the Italian Golden Globes in 2014 and the most popular film at the 2014 Italian Film Festival, in Australia. It is very watchable because of the subject matter and fine performances, backed up by Marcello di Carlo’s production design, which authentically captures the period. Diliberto’s three-handed involvement as director, writer and actor, gives the film a personal touch that adds to its authenticity. It’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy and a brave stance to take in a country where the ‘cosa nostra’ is still a force to be reckoned with. It comes with some cred, for the President of the Italian Senate and former anti-mafia magistrate, Pietro Grasso, publicly announced that the film was the best work on the Sicilian Mafia ever made. It also explains why it was a huge hit at the Italian box office as finally people are able to speak out against an organisation that had them living in fear for years.