{"id":2464,"date":"2011-03-18T13:36:39","date_gmt":"2011-03-18T13:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewildeye.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2464"},"modified":"2011-03-18T13:37:49","modified_gmt":"2011-03-18T13:37:49","slug":"night-bus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thewildeye.co.uk\/blog\/latest-news\/night-bus\/","title":{"rendered":"Night Bus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Night<\/a>
Night Bus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aka Notturno bus
\n2007
\nOriginal running length: 104 mins
\nItaly \/ Poland
\nBased on the novel by Giampiero Rigosi (ed. Einaudi Stile Libero)
\nProduced by Sandro Silvestri and Mauro Vespini for Emme, RAI cinema, ASP, Vision Distribution
\nDistributed by 01 Distribution
\nRelease date: 11-05-2007
\nDirector: Davide Marengo
\nStory: Maura Vespini, Isotta Toso, Cesare Cicardini, Maria Grazia Perria\u00a0 Screenplay: Giampiero Rigosi, Fabio Bonifaci
\nCinematography: Arnaldo Catinari
\nMusic: Gabriele Coen & Mario\u00a0 Rivera
\nEditor: Patrizio Marone
\nArt director: Anna Forletta
\nCast: Valerio\u00a0 Mastandrea (Franz), Giovanna\u00a0 Mezzogiorno (Leila), Ennio\u00a0 Fantastichini (Matera), Anna\u00a0 Romantowska (Sonia), Roberto\u00a0 Citran (Diolaiuti), Francesco\u00a0 Pannofino (Garofano), Ivan\u00a0 Franek (Andrea), Antonio\u00a0 Catania (Bergamini), Iaia\u00a0 Forte (Sig.ra Garofano), Marcello\u00a0 Mazzarella (the painter), Mario\u00a0 Rivera (Titti), Paolo\u00a0 Calabresi (Paolo), Manuela\u00a0 Morabito (Babe), Massimo\u00a0 De Santis (Leo), Renato\u00a0 Nicolini (Tassinari), Alice\u00a0 Palazzi (Betta), Marek\u00a0 Barbasiewicz (the president)<\/p>\n

Just in case you thought that the only things they made in Italy nowadays are light comedies and sincere dramas, here\u2019s a neat comedy-crime film which isn\u2019t too dissimilar to the kinds of releases that have been coming out of the US and UK in recent years.\u00a0 A Polish \u2013 Italian co-production, Night Bus <\/strong>is a fast paced, highly enjoyable movie which was made for about $3.5 million, a decent if not extravagant budget, part financed by RAI.<\/p>\n

\"Ennio<\/a>
Ennio Fantastichini in Night Bus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Franz (Valerio Mastandrea), a hapless bus driver on the airport route, has a lot of problems: he doesn’t have any friends or money, hasn’t had a girlfriend for as long as anyone can remember and has a increasingly irascible thug on his back about a bad gambling debt.\u00a0 And his life manages to take a turn for the (even) worse when he picks up Leila (Giovanna Mezzogiorno), a beautiful passenger who is in some distress.\u00a0 Leila, you see, is a thief, who \u2013 through a particularly convoluted set of circumstances – has managed to accidentally steal a highly valuable microchip, and there are some extremely dangerous men on her trail who want to get it back.\u00a0 On the one hand there’s the softly spoken Matera (Ennio Fantastichini), an old school former intelligence agent who’s working for the microchip’s wealthy owner; on the other there are Garofano (Francesco Pannofino) and Diolaiti (Roberto Citran), a pair of psychopaths who are working for god knows who.<\/p>\n

Naturally enough, Franz and Leila soon strike up an extremely uneasy alliance, not least because Leila is looking for a safe place to lay low without any connection to her previous life.\u00a0 But the bad guys want the microchip back, and they’re willing to go to any lengths necessary in order to get it back.<\/p>\n

Night Bus <\/strong>is a funny thriller, with some genuinely amusing moments, a contemporary feel and a cool soundtrack.\u00a0 It reminded me a lot of two other recent Italian films: Il cura del Gorilla<\/strong>, a highly recommended comedy thriller from 2006 starring Claudio Bisio and Ernst Borgnine and The Consequences of Love<\/strong>, with which it shares a fascination for clinically modern settings (trendy bars and hotels which are almost always empty, car parks, an airport) and a character who is planning to double cross his employers, spends most of his time alone and is connected to other people mainly through his mobile phone.\u00a0 It\u2019s not quite as well written as the former, not as clever or well made as the latter, but still stands as an enjoyable, decently made film in its own right.<\/p>\n

\"Valerio<\/a>
Valerio Mastandrea & Giovanna Mezzogiorno in Night Bus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Curiously, it’s actually stronger during the first half, before the two protagonists join forces and strike up their unlikely romance; it’s not that this is badly handled, more that it interrupts the action, which in the meantime becomes a series of sometimes repetitive chase sequences.\u00a0 But there’s a great bus chase, and it all builds up to a surprisingly tense, impressive climax.\u00a0 Director Davide Merengo handles his duties well; a former maker of documentaries and shorts, in recent years he\u2019s turned his hand to TV series, handling episodes of the popular Il commissario Manara <\/strong>and Boris<\/strong>.\u00a0 It also boasts some classy cinematography from Arnaldo Catinari (who also shot The Caiman <\/strong>(2006), The Demons of St. Petersburg <\/strong>(2008) and Imago Mortis <\/strong>(2009) amongst others) and a good soundtrack from Gabriele Coen and Mario Rivera (who also features as a massive debt collector).<\/p>\n

The cast is also good.\u00a0 Giovanna Mezzogiorno is very beatiful and likeable as the thoroughly untrustworthy heroine, and it\u2019s not at all surprising that she\u2019s gone on to become one of the biggest actresses of her generation. Valerio Mastandrea, a new name to me, makes for an engagingly hangdog hero (he\u2019s also appeared in Florent Emilio Siri\u2019s The Nest <\/strong>(02) and Alex Infascelli\u2019s Il siero della vanit\u00e0 <\/strong>(04), amongst other films).\u00a0 And in support there are busy character actors like Ivan Franek and Marcello Mazzarella and Francesco Pannofino (who reminds me a lot of a more manic Mario Adorf).<\/p>\n

Look out for it, and try to see it before it\u2019s remade with Clive Owen and Angelina Jolie!<\/p>\n

Here’s the trailer:<\/p>\n

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