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April 10, 2015
Review: Black Souls

blacksoulsFilms about the mafia have become extremely common, so it’s rather refreshing to watch a film like Black Souls which doesn’t try to either glamorize or condemn mobsters, but instead focuses on creating mood and letting audiences to do their own thinking. Mostly set in  a town in the Aspromonte mountains, the film takes on the structure of a Greek tragedy to tell the story of three brothers who are members of the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta; Luigi (Marco Leonardi) is an arrogant big shot who we first meet in Amsterdam as he conducts business with South American drug dealers, his brother Rocco (Peppino Mazzotta) is the “serious one”, he works as the family’s accountant  and is married to Valeria (Barbora Babulova) a “foreigner” who stays away from the family business but has no trouble enjoying the luxuries that come from it.

Eldest brother Luciano (Fabrizio Ferracane) has chosen to stay away from business and instead lives in the small town where they were born, where he herds goats and takes care of his family. His son Leo (Giuseppe Fumo) however, dreams of becoming like his uncles, and after pulling off a childish act at a local pub, he escapes away to his uncles’ homes in Milan. Things, of course, don’t go as planned and soon the three brothers find themselves back together as they try to deal with the wrath of a neighboring family who they’ve been feuding for decades.

Quietly observed, more than “directed”, by Francesco Munzi, Black Souls stays away from elaborate set pieces, wisecracking sidekicks or moral condemnations, instead allowing his camera to intrude into a world that seems as foreign to him as to viewers. Highlighting contrasts such as the luxurious lifestyle of the city mobsters, and the barebones-ness of those living in Calabria, Munzi carves a thought provoking tale about the ways in which we inherit misery and pain.

A recurring theme in the film is a family portrait with the faces of deceased men, all of whom seem to have died at the mercy of their enemies, instead of pointing out the barbaric nature of vendettas, Munzi wonders instead if this tragic way of living has become essential in a place of the world that has otherwise been forgotten by the government. Following with the Greek structure, Munzi tells a parallel tale of why there was a need for the creation of lawfulness, even if sometimes those systems ironically occur outside the law.

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Written by: Jose Solis
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