Last Updated on September 30, 2020 by rob
A Mafia dealmaker (Claudio Amendola) has plans to turn the summer resort of Ostia into an Italian Las Vegas. But when a bent politician (Pierfrancesco Favino) crucial to the deal is blackmailed the politician seeks help from an ambitious criminal (Alessandro Borghi) and his junkie girlfriend (Greta Scarano) who between them run all illegal activity in Ostia. Before long the blackmailer is gruesomely dispatched but his father (Adamo Dionisi) turns out to be the terrifying head of a family of gypsies whose feral instinct for revenge and a piece of the action threatens to bring the whole Ostia deal crashing down.
What a tremendous thriller! A riveting portrait of corruption in high places, featuring a fantastic ensemble cast, directed with precision, oozing confidence and on a technical level flawlessly executed. The feel of Suburra – with its hermetically sealed world of designer nightclubs, hotel rooms, ultra slick business premises and a throbbing synth soundtrack – somewhat recalls Michael Mann’s Heat. But Sollima’s film is very much it’s own thing – a relentlessly gripping insight into the lives of a handful of different characters from all levels of society – their dreams, hopes and desires as they struggle to bring a deal to fruition that can transform their lives – and infused with both a strong moral framework (such as a climactic scene in which the cosy bubble Favino’s politician has been living in is rudely punctured as the man finds himself caught up in a mob of enraged citizens marching on city hall) and a compassion for its characters (especially the weakest) that proves immensely satisfying.
Few things match the thrill of seeing victims turn on their aggressors and both Greta Scarano and Elio Germano have show stopping moments here after enduring some terrible knocks. What’s impressive is that although none of the characters are particularly deeply drawn, we do clearly understand their motives, the fact that Borghi’s character is a nasty little thug doesn’t stop us from sympathising with his desire to better himself and the script – adapted from a novel – draws all these crossed purposes together in ways that are taut and terrific. The only criticism I can make is that a couple of times I felt Sollima’s music choices were a bit too overbearing given the inherent strength of the material. Sometimes less is more and all that. But otherwise I have no complaints. The gruesome bursts of violence are extremely well staged (an attempted assassination in a shopping mall is a crackerjack piece of editing), often cunningly deployed when you least expect it and sometimes infused with a blackly comic sensibility.
This is also one of the few crime films where the ambition of a gangster (in this case Borghi) feels palpable. What I mean is that rather than just coming over as a rote plot device Borghi’s desire to see his little backyard transformed into an Italian Las Vegas hangs over the movie like a veil. You can almost see it. There’s a striking nighttime scene here where Borghi looks out through a rain-streaked window at the city and as he explains his dream to his girl the neon lights in the distance seem to brighten in intensity as if in sympathy with his vision. It’s a great impressionistic moment. And aside from anything else Sollima must be some huge fan of Akira Kurosawa given that the omnipresent rain on display here feels as much of a character as any of the human figures in the drama. Far, far better than the thematically similar, if flashy and empty, Il Divo (which felt like Paolo Sorrentino imitating equal parts Scorsese and Tarantino) Suburra is one of the best Italian crime thrillers I’ve seen in years. Do yourself a favour and check it out. It really is bloody good.
