Screened as part of NZIFF 2015

Black Souls 2014

Anime nere

Directed by Francesco Munzi World

Three brothers with markedly different approaches to their family’s drug-trade dynasty are drawn back to their Calabrian origins in this darkly elegant gangster drama. “Souls is set to be this year’s mafia pic.” — Variety

Aug 19

Isaac Theatre Royal

Aug 21

Hoyts Northlands 4

France / Italy In Italian with English subtitles
103 minutes CinemaScope / DCP

Director

Producers

Luigi Musini
,
Olivia Musini

Screenplay

Francesco Munzi
,
Fabrizio Ruggirello
,
Maurizio Braucci. Based on the novel by Gioacchino Criaco

Photography

Vladan Radovic

Editor

Cristiano Travaglioli

Music

Giuliano Taviani

With

Marco Leonardi (Luigi)
,
Peppino Mazzotta (Rocco)
,
Fabrizio Ferracane (Luciano)
,
Barbora Bobulova (Valeria)
,
Anna Ferruzzo (Antonia)
,
Giuseppe Fumo (Leo)
,
Pasquale Romeo (Ercole)
,
Stefano Priolo (Nicola)
,
Vito Facciolla (Pasquale)

Festivals

Venice
,
Toronto
,
Busan
,
London 2014

Elsewhere

The far-flung brothers of a mob family are compelled to regroup after a bumptious young nephew stirs up a long-dormant feud. Though the action encompasses Amsterdam and Milan, the dark heart of their tale is located in Calabria, in the tiny mountainous town of Africo, where the ’Ndrangheta exerts control. Based on a true story, Francesco Munzi’s film explores the tributaries of catastrophe with meticulous, almost anthropological realism. The hand of death hovers over every character, but you might not guess where or when it will strike. “Black Souls is an ominous, well-acted portrait of an ingrown feudal society of violence, retaliation and deadly machismo… As the body count escalates, you observe the implosion of an airtight mob community whose code of silence is embraced by wives and family members… Black Souls is the antithesis of a sensationalist splatter movie. There is not an operatic flourish to be seen in a film whose killings are executed with a cold blooded efficiency. This isn’t entertainment; it’s life and death.” — Stephen Holden, NY Times