Le conseguenze dell’amore

In a manner of speaking, this is a genre film, a film whose engine is kept turning by money, drugs and crime. But if it is a genre film, then it is also one of the most stylised and stylish that have been made in the recent past. The film has two things to thank for that. The unemotional way in which the writer-director tells the story and the actor, Toni Servillo, who turns his protagonist into an unforgettable figure. Titta di Girolamo apparently has his life completely under control. Even the way in which he lights a cigarette radiates control and perfection. He lives on his own in an expensive hotel in Switzerland, and at first it is not very clear what he does. Maybe he is too rich to need to work. Little by little, the film maker reveals how much Titta has lost control of his life. He has become a completely apathetic cog in a machine that is controlled by sinister Mafia power. At fixed times, the incorruptible Titta takes a shot of heroin and at equally fixed times, he takes a fortune in banknotes to the bank. Year in. Year out. In the end, the film is close enough family of the genre film – albeit a noble cousin – to derail the unshakable life of Titta. And then he really does lose control. (GjZ)