{"id":3284,"date":"2012-10-29T21:41:57","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T21:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewildeye.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3284"},"modified":"2012-10-29T21:41:57","modified_gmt":"2012-10-29T21:41:57","slug":"sacred-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thewildeye.co.uk\/blog\/reviews\/sacred-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacred Silence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sacred<\/a>
Sacred Silence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aka Pianese Nunzio 14 anni a maggio
\n1996
\nOriginal running time: 115 mins
\nItaly
\nA Gianni Minervini production for A.M.A. Film, Istituto Luce S.P.A. and Gian Mario Feletti for G.M.F. in collaboration with Mediaset
\nDistributed by Medusa Film
\nDirector: Antonio Capuano
\nStory & screenplay: Antonio Capuano
\nCinematography: Antonio Baldoni {Panoramico, Eastmancolor}
\nMusic: Umberto Guarino
\nCast: Fabrizio Bentivoglio (Don Lorenzo Borrelli) Emanuele Gargiulo (Nunzio Pianese) Tonino Taiuti (Antonio Taiuti Cuccarini) Rosaria De Cicco (Aunt Rosaria) Manuela Martinelli (Ada) Teresa Saponangelo (Anna Maria Pica) Nando Triola (Giovanni Pianese, Nunzio’s brother)<\/p>\n

Sacred Silence<\/strong> is a 1996 film written and directed by Antonio Capuano. It’s a borderline\u00a0crime film in that it deals with the Camorra, although it’s more of a character study and\u00a0modern day tragedy than a traditional poliziotteschi. That said, it also anticipates some\u00a0of the approach and style of Matteo Garrone’s Gommorah<\/strong>, a similarly neo-realist inspired\u00a0examination of the criminal organisations that are so tightly bound to Neapolitan society.<\/p>\n

Don Lorenzo Borrelli (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) is a well-intentioned priest from Milan who is\u00a0parachuted into a new job as custodian of the Santa Maria delle Monteverginelle church in\u00a0Naples. It’s a prestigious posting, and he starts his job with fervour, making a particular name\u00a0for himself by actively campaigning against the Camorra despite the considerable danger to\u00a0himself that this could entail. He also forms a particularly strong bond with the young men\u00a0of the neighbourhood, trying to prevent them from falling into a life of crime by encouraging\u00a0them to learn and openly express themselves during his confirmation classes. In fact, his\u00a0relationship with them is perhaps too free and easy: rumours begin to circulate that he has a\u00a0sexual interest in his charges, and most particularly in the 13 year old organist and wannabe\u00a0crooner Nunzio (Emanuele Gargiulo).<\/p>\n

Eventually social workers and the police become involved, much to the delight of the local\u00a0Camorra bosses who see it as a perfect opportunity to rid themselves of the meddlesome\u00a0priest. They set about leaning on Nunzio to condemn him, but Nunzio has his own reasons to\u00a0resist: quite apart from the love he feels for Lorenzo, he also rightly blames the Camorra for\u00a0the death of his girlfriend, an accidental victim of a shooting in the subway.<\/p>\n

\"Fabrizio<\/a>
Fabrizio Bentivoglio in Sacred Silence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is an amazingly courageous film, considering the fact that it’s essentially about a\u00a0paedophile and, what’s more, a paedophile who is in many other ways so upstanding and\u00a0heroic. Lorenzo certainly makes for a difficult protagonist, at the same part admirable and\u00a0despicable; and the fact is that he takes advantage of a vulnerable young man in much the\u00a0same way as the Camorra he so despises. But he’s a genuinely tragic protagonist, someone\u00a0who tries to do good but fails because of fatal character flaw which not only undermines his\u00a0cause but also his whole moral bearing.<\/p>\n

Since his 1991 debut Vito and the Others<\/strong> Capuano has made a series of controversial,\u00a0interesting films set in his native Naples, which generally deal with the Mafia, poverty, social\u00a0deprivation and self doubt. He’s one of the few contemporary Italian directors whose work\u00a0is consistently impressive; markedly influenced by the likes of Rossellini and De Sica but also\u00a0with a good eye for a dramatic story. Here he uses plenty of straight to camera monologues\u00a0to develop the narrative \u2013 a gimmicky tactic I’m not keen on, in general \u2013 and favours an\u00a0understated, constrained style. He’s also very careful in his use of music, which ranges from\u00a0Neapolitan torch songs to locally flavoured contemporary pop, and although his staging of\u00a0some of the more choreographed sequences isn’t great he does manage to keep things moving\u00a0at a modest pace.<\/p>\n

What’s particularly impressive, though, is his depiction of Naples, which comes across as\u00a0much like a North African as a Southern European city, full of noise and bustle, machismo\u00a0and camaraderie. The characters are drawn from the same backdrop as Matteo Garrone’s\u00a0Gomorrah<\/strong>, kids from the tenements and tower blocks who spend their time in arcades or\u00a0doing drugs, who end up drifting into street crime and gangs in order to make a quick buck\u00a0and because it’s what people like them do. Shootings can happen at any time, so much so\u00a0that people treat it as a matter of daily life, even when innocent people are the victims, and\u00a0the Camorra is both untouchable and involved in just about every element of life<\/p>\n

As a bonus, poliziotteschi fans might notice Tommasso Palladino, a veteran of several Umberto\u00a0Lenzi films from the 70s, in a small role as a Camorra boss at a dogfight.<\/p>\n

Here’s the trailer:<\/p>\n