D:
Pasquale Squittieri. P. Gianni Hecht Lucari. W: Ugo Pirro, Michele Prisco,
Pasquale Squittieri. Ph: Eugenio Bentivoglio. M: Franco Campanino, Gigi
Campanino. St: Claudia Cardinale (Lucia Esposito), Franco Nero (Nicola Bellizzi),
Fabio Testi (Don Gaetano Fungillo), Lina Polito (Nanina Scognamiglio), Rita
Forzano (Luisella)
“I will use a soft tongue and a sharp blade”
After
a stuttering start to his cinematic career, Squittieri’s directorial style
would improve when he turned from westerns to chronicling the tribulations (and
in this case trials) of those involved in southern Italy’s organised-crime
societies. The Neapolitan director, uniform in his intensity and social
analysis, would begin by placing Naple’s fearsome Camorra under the spotlight –
Gang War in Naples was driven by a muscular
performance by Testi while its follow-up, Blood
Brothers, is set towards the end
of the 19th century. Together, both films show how the Camorra’s razor-sharp
teeth gnaw at the fabric of one of Europe’s great cities.
The
film explores the alliance between two central figures: Nicola Bellizzi has
come to Naples to study to be a lawyer, while Don Gaetano is one of the city’s
most feared racketeers. Upon arrival, Nero’s trademark intense blue-eyed gaze fixes
on the glaring poverty of the backstreets. Fabio Testi’s mesmeric moustachioed
face emerges into focus in a dirty mirror, hinting at his inner
shadiness. Unlike the humble Bellizzi, Gaetano carries himself like a monarch
of these same filthy thoroughfares.
The
soundtrack may evoke The Godfather’s
mournful tones but, unlike Coppola’s film, Squittieri’s concern is to show the
net effect of organised crime. Street urchins rip gold earrings from wealthier lobes
to trade for a bowl of pasta from unscrupulous adults; the exploitation of children
by their elders is an injustice that Bellizzi fights throughout. Yet he can’t
help being attracted to the secret life and codes of the Camorra. The glamour
and benefits (at least material) that accrue from association with a guappo is exemplified by Lucia, Don Gaetano’s
mistress; when she dares to show any sign of defiance, however, she is
invariably slapped or beaten.[i]
Given
his progressive concerns, Bellizzi’s seduction into criminality seems, at
first, unlikely. When his path crosses that of Don Gaetano, however, their bond
gets sealed in blood. The don slaps Bellizzi’s face when he loses to him while
gambling at the dockside – Testi slaps a lot of people in this film – and the
men fight again, this time with blades, at a swanky café. It is staged with
utmost ceremony, much like the gunfights of spaghetti westerns, as the patrons clear
the area to let the men face each other. The ensuing stylistic bout is
interrupted by bellicose policeman Aiossa (Raymond Pellegrin), who is
determined to end Gaetano’s reign. When Bellizzi doesn’t press charges he earns
the respect and tutelage of the grand guappo.
In
the film’s most noir-tinged sequence, Bellizzi is sworn in as a camorrista in a catacomb in front of an
audience of skulls. It’s a symbolic backdrop to a ritual full of hushed tones
and peopled by ageing, hunched gangsters. In a scrupulously filmed sequence, Bellizzi’s
blood is mixed with that of Gaetano to tie Belizzi to the mob, an act that will
ironically see them both eventual enemies of their protectors.
Raymond
Pellegrin musters requisite ruthlessness as the malicious lawman low enough to
snare Don Gaetano by raping Lucia in a prison cell – the cinema verité style renders a sense of realism to the violence
throughout. Rats crawl into the cell during her violation; the following scene
places her next to violent – perhaps figuratively cleansing – waves crashing
against the bay. Now a qualified lawyer, Bellizzi must persuade Lucia to
testify in Gaetano’s favour and discredit Aiossa, an action that would
dishonour the don and inevitably put Lucia’s life at risk.
Performances
are uniformly excellent, especially from Testi as the conflicted gangster who
must balance obedience to the Camorra with loyalty to Bellizzi and Lucia. Squittieri’s
rumination on the cycle of poverty and crime in the mezzogiorno is more considered than most. To emphasise the
director’s convictions, Bellizzi’s final speech (and its tragically ironic
conclusion) culminate in an audacious shot that leaves the 19th
century courtroom, tracking down the halls of justice, to take in groups of
bell-bottomed street hoods breaking the hearts of their wailing mamas.
Relationships
blossomed off-screen. Despite such handsome leading men, it was to be
Squittieri with whom Cardinale would fall in love.
Clark Hodgkiss
Clark Hodgkiss
[i] The Neapolitan word guappo literally means thug and is associated with street hoodlums
and/or members of the Camorra. They are characterised by their dandy sense of
dress, something that Testi’s character emulates
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